


This is War

by Loreak



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Interrogation, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Female Character, Physical Abuse, Police, Post-Season/Series 03, To Be Continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-10-05 13:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20489477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loreak/pseuds/Loreak
Summary: Raquel has been caught by the police and is believed to be dead by Sergio and the gang. But the heist is still going on. Raquel finds herself being interrogated by Alicia Sierra and encounters some old faces while in custody. Will she be able to find a way out of this mess and help the gang to escape?The story picks up right after part 3.





	1. Astray

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave Kudos and let me know what you think, I always love reading your comments! :)

The ground felt hard as Raquel kneeled down and looked pleadingly at the farmer with the gun. She was heavily breathing the dry air that filled the old barn in the country and felt sweat dripping down her forehead. Before she could say anything else, both she and the farmer startled.

“Policia!“, came the loud voice from right outside the door. A moment later it was violently pushed open. Three police men equipped with arms burst inside and pointed their guns at the woman. In this moment Raquel knew that she had lost. Without hesitation she put her arms behind her head in a sign of defeat.  
“Sir, get out of here!“, said a familiar voice to the farmer who was standing frightened right in front of Raquel. Suárez looked exactly like he had when Raquel had left her old life behind though the look on his face now showed disgust and anger towards the woman in front of him. There was nothing left of the cooperative professionalism that Raquel knew from her former colleague.

"Suárez, why are you sending him outside?" Raquel could hear the nervous tremble in her voice as she started to put together why the police men wanted the farmer to leave.

"Justino, don't leave, Justino, don't!", she started to panic.

It did nothing – another police man took the confused and anxious farmer by the arm and led him outside.

“Suárez, I’m surrendering, I’m not armed, I’m no threat to you.", heard Raquel herself saying. She did not sound like herself though, her voice was raspy.

The look on Suárez’ face darkened. “No threat? You are the biggest threat in the country, bitch! You sold us all out.“

Raquel began to feel a sharp pain in her stomach and felt nauseous. “Suárez, put the gown down”. She could unmistakably hear the fear in her voice.

“Where is the professor?“, asked Suárez, now pointing the gun directly at her forehead.

Raquel heard the professor screaming through the walkie-talkie, telling her to give up his location and come outside. Suddenly her body filled with adrenaline again. She would never betray Sergio. She would never betray the man who had changed her life for the better.

“I don‘t know where he is.“

“Where is the professor?“ Suarez sounded even more threatening now. 

“I don’t know!“, exclaimed Raquel, this time she sounded loud and determined. 

Suárez unlocked his pistol. “Are you sure? Because I’m only going to ask you one more time.”

His words, now slow and scary, mixed with the professor’s voice in Raquel‘s ear begging her to give up his location and all sound suddenly became a threatening hum.  
Raquel lifted her chin and stared right in Suarez’ eyes: “I don’t know where the professor is, I don’t.“

“Wrong answer.”

The next second felt like equally the longest and shortest moment in Raquel’s life, the quietest and the loudest moment at once and also the most frightening and surreal.

As she felt the cold material of the pistol pressing against her forehead she closed her eyes in frightening agitation. Then, she opened them again, not willing to surrender herself to the darkness yet. Suarez‘ face was marked by struggle as Raquel awaited the final blow.

Instead something different happened. Suddenly Raquel found herself being restrained by the other police man as Suarez determinedly pointed his gun in the air and fired two shots. It all happened so fast and unexpectedly that Raquel could barely react.

“It was self-defence. She shot first“, Suárez said to his colleague. “Take the weapon. Clean the fingerprints. Put it in her hand.”

The hand on Raquel‘s mouth prevented her from screaming loudly which became irrelevant when Suarez took her microphone in a fast movement and threw it into a bucket of water.

It was over. The connection to Sergio was cut, she would not be able to make herself heard. As Suárez threw her body violently to the ground and put cuffs on Raquel‘s hands, she realized she had miscalculated. She really had believed they were going to kill her right here and right now. She had had no doubt that inspectora Sierra dared to do anything in the face of a good crime. And when she had believed it, the professor would have too.

Which meant that from now on this was war.


	2. Helpless

The area outside and around the farmers‘ barn was filled with police force. They must have put several units at charge. The space was crowded by cars and people in uniforms. What felt like a familiar scene from Raquel‘s years working as an inspectora was now her personal nightmare. Now she was the criminal that had been hunted and caught, the unnerving fly in the room, the unwanted enemy that was to be eliminated.

As Suárez lead her to the cars, guarded by two police men, Raquel did not resist. She did not say a further word knowing it would not help her situation. She could feel the surrounded guards looking at her. Their stares were intense trying to make sense of the former head inspectora who threw away her life to team up with the mastermind and criminal that had been working against her. Their mutual romantic involvement was rumoured among police officers which made the case all the more twisted. Raquel did not return any of the gazes and instead tried to not look anywhere particular. She felt numb as Suárez opened the back door to one of the vans that transported prisoners. The guards nudged her to step inside the vehicle and Raquel silently complied. They closed the door and sat on each sides of Raquel, Suárez took the place in front of her. She led out a deep breath. Relieved to be alive she was fearing what was yet to come.

When the car began to move she closed her eyes for a second and tried to concentrate. She quickly needed to assert the situation but the meditation techniques she had practised with Sergio were not even nearly as easy as when they had done them together. Right now the time they had spent in the idyllic monastery in Italy felt like years away. Raquel could not imagine ever being that happy again. Not that she had been completely carefree the last few weeks – they still had had to plan a national robbery – but she had felt more like herself than ever. Sergio and her, the whole gang, they had had a purpose, a shared goal. They still had that. She just needed to find a way out of this mess.

Naturally, the professor made sure there was a plan for every problem they might encounter. There was not exactly one for this situation though. They knew exactly what to do when one member of the gang was caught – this plan had already worked when Tokyo had been transported to prison. Sergio had made sure there were lots of allies stand-by in Madrid waiting for the call.

They also had a strategy for the case that one of them died. They would continue the robbery but a dead person was a violation against their mutual understanding to end this without violence. The state and the police would not look good in front of the public when it came out that they had killed one of their heroes. It sounded harsh but a death could be used against the state.

Neither of these plans applied to Raquel’s situation. Sergio had no idea that she was alive. Which meant that she could not count on a rescue team. Oh, it was probably one of Sierra’s clever ideas, and Raquel had to admit to herself: faking her death in order to use her as a secret weapon was brilliant. Her heart ached when she thought of Sergio who was probably going completely mad this very moment. Raquel hoped he would keep a clear mind but she doubted that would be easy. She knew she wouldn’t. She would probably declare war on the police and get revenge. Raquel tried to suppress a sob that burned in her chest. She couldn’t let her emotions distract her now. What if he too had been caught? This would mean that almost everything was lost, but Raquel refused to believe that. They had concentrated the police force on her when they found out where she was and when Sergio could keep at least some rational thought, he would have gotten out of there when he heard the gun shots.

Either way she had no way of letting the professor know she was alive. She was completely on her own. Whatever would happen next was going to be completely out of order, there was no protocol for this. That bitch Sierra managed to ignore all rules and she was beginning to win this game. Raquel presumed they were taking her back to Madrid. And then? Interrogate and torture her like Rio? She quickly tried to shake that thought off. She wouldn‘t say anything anyway. There was no way she would reveal Sergio’s plan.

She was worried most though about Paula and her mother. They had taken several precautions and Raquel hoped they wouldn‘t find her family. Sergio had been right, their well-being was her weak spot, Raquel knew that. And Sierra knew too. If she found them, that would put things in a different perspective. Raquel’s eyes started to tear up again. But she couldn‘t think about that. Whatever happened – she needed to somehow communicate with Sergio and manage to build an advantage with the police. Tell them not much, nothing useful but just enough to loosen the physical and metaphorical manacles. As for now she had to wait.

Raquel turned her attention back to the back of the car. It had been quiet inside and the only thing one could hear was the noise of motor and the cars on the street. They seemed to be on the highway now. Raquel noticed that Suárez had been watching her. Their eyes met for a second and for a moment the former colleagues held gazes. Suárez didn‘t look full of rage anymore. In the heat of the moment Raquel had really thought he wanted to kill her, not because he was following orders but for personal reasons. Now he looked calmer. Controlled and alerted. A bit suspicious. Raquel thought she could also see curiosity in his face. She didn‘t resent Suárez. She resented Prieto, she resented the secret service and the police as a system, but Suárez had never been the bad guy. Raquel almost felt guilty. But no, this was bigger than this, bigger than anything.

A few seconds later Suárez was the first to break the gaze. He took out a mobile phone and called a number. “Inspectora. We are twenty minutes away from Madrid. We can bring her to Soto del Real.”

Raquel knew that name. It referred to a prison facility in northern Madrid. Rather small and far away from the centre not many people would have to encounter her there. It was a strategical move. Suárez tried to minimize the amount of people who would discover that Raquel was alive. And they would still have her close by for interrogation.

Raquel couldn‘t hear Sierra‘s answer on the phone.

“I don‘t think that would be wise, inspectora. There are too many people there. The press will know.“

A short pause followed.

Suárez did not seem content. “If you say so, inspectora. We will be there in twenty minutes. Have everything prepared.“, he finished the call.

Suárez took the walkie-talkie that connected to the driver and said: “Martín. Directly to the inspectora. Bank of Spain.“


	3. Sierra

They were driving directly to the Bank of Spain. Given the circumstances that wasn’t that unusual. The police didn’t have an endless amount of time and Sierra probably couldn’t afford to go to a different place for interrogations. The longer they drove into the city centre the more nervous Raquel became. She was anxious to see the Bank of Spain from a near distance. It was somehow twisted that she had been so far away from the place that had mattered the most in the last few days. In short time she would be so close to the rest of the gang. This didn’t really matter, of course, she couldn’t do anything, but her heart made a leap anyway. She was also anxious to find out that everything was going downhill. 

The car slowed down. They were nearly there. Raquel could hear the people screaming outside. The mob was angry. Angry at the police and the state. They came to a halt. 

“Wait a minute“, came a voice from Suárez‘ walkie-talkie.

Finally, the door was opened from outside and Raquel could see that they had used tarps to built a provisory closed path that led to the investigation tent. 

“Come on“. Suárez made Raquel climb out of the car. He took her roughly by her arms that were still bound behind her back and navigated her towards the entrance of the tent. 

Inside Raquel saw the familiar working space of a police investigation. When she entered almost all heads turned towards her, curious to see the state of the former inspectora. Raquel recognized a few faces as Suárez led her through the room. She felt uneasy, this situation was completely new to her. She had never been on the receiving end of the shameless and accusive stares a criminal got. That made her become aware of how much her life had changed in the past three years.

Raquel saw neither Prieto nor Ángel, but Alicia Sierra was waiting expectantly at a desk in the back of the room. Inspector Tamayo was standing beside her. He looked exhausted. Heavily pregnant but styled as always, Alicia Sierra was the real threat. Raquel mentally gathered all good spirits she could manage as she was motioned towards the inspectora. She would need a strong mind-set now. 

“Raquel! How wonderful to finally see you here“, Alicia beamed with a fake smile. 

Raquel didn‘t smile back. “It‘s Lisboa.“ 

Alicia raised her eyebrows but shrug the look off a second later. She didn‘t really care. 

“Thank you, Suárez. Have you searched her?“ 

Suarez‘ voice was close to Raquel’s ear: “She was unarmed. We found two pistols in the barn and a bag with life supplies.“ 

“Lovely. Search her again, please“. Sierra gestured to two police men standing near. 

Raquel knew this was only one of her first measures to denunciate her. She needed Raquel to feel weak and low. And Raquel had to admit that it worked very well. She had to follow the instructions of the police men and strip down to the underwear. They manhandled her like some object. Her body was not her own, no part of it private anymore. She had lost that right. And she felt degraded. 

When they confirmed she was unarmed Raquel was allowed to put her trousers and top back on. They put her hands back in handcuffs and forced her to sit down in front of Sierra‘s desk. Raquel felt rage at the woman who was now taking the seat in front of her. Coronel Tamayo stayed a few steps beside Alicia. 

“Don‘t look so unpleased, Raquel.“ She over-enunciated her name with pleasure. “I had hoped we would get a chance to chat a bit these days. Face to face.“

Raquel let out a short, deep laugh. The important thing now was to not show any weakness. “I can‘t say I feel the same way.“ 

“Sorry for the inconvenience.“, she pointed to the rest of Raquel‘s clothes that lay on the floor. “But you know we have to be thorough.” Alicia leaned back in her chair. “You weren‘t apparently. Hiding in a farm was not a smart idea. You were more intelligent back in school.“

Raquel tried to remain calm and didn‘t say anything. 

“We found your hide-out and the ambulance you were tracking the heist from. The forensic teams are on their way and soon we’ll know how the gang is planning to escape. You can give up.”

“I don’t think so.” Raquel knew the police wouldn’t find much useful evidence. She and Sergio had thought of the possibility of being discovered. Especially their escape plan was nowhere written down. They would have to get it out of her, which, at the moment, wasn’t going to happen. Raquel also doubted that they had caught Sergio. Otherwise Alicia would have already tried to blackmail her with him.

“We haven’t caught your boyfriend yet”, confirmed the inspectora in that moment. “But it won’t be long. He has apparently lost it after we _shot_ you“. She made air-quotes with her hands and smiled contently. Raquel’s heart beat fast at the mention of Sergio. “I feel obligated to tell you that the professor is not sticking to his ‚no violence‘ rule any more. An hour ago three police officers were killed by shots that were fired from the bank.“ 

Raquel didn‘t say anything. She wouldn‘t have known what to. She was shocked. What was going on in there? Was Sierra lying to get information out of her? Or was it true? And if so, had this been on Sergio‘s orders? 

“Your boyfriend‘s a killer, Raquel. How does it feel living with this fact?“ 

Raquel trembled. “How does it feel living with the fact that you’re a narcissistic bitch?” She was shaking with anger. 

“Mh.” Sierra remained calm and smiled, almost like she was enjoying herself. But she was enjoying this. Raquel knew Alicia well. She was an egoistic psychopath who didn’t really care about the innocent people in the bank. She rather liked to play games. And she loved to win.

“Listen, you know how this works. You tell me what I want to hear and I will see what I can do for you. We girls help each other out. Like back in the days, remember? We used to love sharing.” A reminiscent smile crossed her face. “Remember Fernando? What a night”.

Raquel raised her eyebrows in disbelief. She knew exactly what Sierra was referring to. The woman was mental. And Raquel hated that she knew so much about her past life, that she had even been part of it. Tamayo made an insignificant noise. He looked irritated. 

Sierra leaned forward. “Raquel. Help me out here: Where is the professor?“ 

Raquel mustered Alicia. “I don‘t know.“ 

“How are they planning to escape the bank?” 

Raquel raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know.” 

“See, I almost expected you wouldn‘t cooperate. You know what happens to unwilling criminals. You have heard what Rio told the others about his imprisonment, haven‘t you?“ 

“Fuck you. You are no better than any other criminal.“ 

“Tone, Raquel!“ 

Raquel wanted to rip Alicia‘s heart out or choke her to death. Her whole body was shaking and her handcuffs clung together threateningly. 

The inspectora leaned over the table. “I should tell you that you already have one of your people lying on their death bed in the bank. We could save them. With a little bit of your help.” 

Raquel’s eyes widened in shock. “Who?” Her voice was unsteady. She could feel the panic stirring in her chest again. This couldn’t be happening. 

Alicia chuckled and leaned back in her chair: “That’s not how it works, darling. You give me information and I decide if it’s good enough to make life easier for you. So, how are they planning to escape?” 

Raquel pressed her lips together. Her mind was racing. What if it was true? What if one of them was really badly injured? Raquel felt sick. But it didn’t make a difference. She couldn’t sacrifice any information regarding the plan. They needed to manage on their own.

Alicia understood what Raquel’s silence meant. “Very well. Martinez, Antoñanzas, walk her off. As planed“, she said with an intense look. “She needs a bit more time to think. And I need an ice cream.“ 


	4. Alberto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: physical abuse

Raquel was grabbed by the shoulders and motioned to stand up. The police men took an arm on each side of her and walked towards the exit when suddenly someone burst in from outside.

It was Alberto Vicuña.

“Where is she?”, he demanded loudly. “Where is that bitch?”

Raquel froze and the police men beside her came to a halt. It was quiet, everyone’s attention was on Alberto. When he spotted her his face filled with a murdering impression. Angrily he walked towards her.

“You fucking whore”.

Raquel flinched at the sight of her ex-husband. In Palawan, where he could not hurt her or her daughter she had almost managed to forget all the bad things he had done to her. Now everything came rushing back. How he would suddenly just change his temper. How he would become obsessed over every little detail that bothered him. And how he would finally hit her. Once, twice, thrice, Raquel had lost count after that. How he would manage to hold her in an ice-cold grip and beat her up aggressively until she would just wait for it to be over.

The bruises on her body hadn’t been the worst part. The worst part had been the shame and indignity she had felt. For not being able to resist although she was a trained police officer. For not having the courage to say anything to anyone. And for not being able to leave him for one and a half year.

“You fucking bitch”. Alberto now stood directly in front of Raquel. She could see the sweat dripping from his forehead.

With an angry look on his face, he spat at her. Out of reflex Raquel took a step backwards. Martinez and Antoñanzas at her side followed suit. Raquel recognized the same instinct-driven expression that she’d faced whenever she came home from work at night and something had upset her ex-husband. In these moments she had never known his next actions. Sometimes Alberto would just calm himself again and smoke a cigarette on the terrace. Other times he would become very loud and yell at her while she tried to shush him, scared that he would be waking Paula or the neighbours. She would always try to pacify him while he cornered her and shouted wild accusations at her. Soon the formerly appreciated proximity became a frightening state. The fact that he had always ruefully sought to gain her trust again afterwards had made things even worse.

“Calm down, Alberto”, said Martinez.

“Calm down?”, roared Alberto. “She took my child, she fucking took my child from me”.

He turned his attention back to Raquel. “Where is Paula? Where have you hid her?”

His face was so close to Raquel’s that she could smell his breath.

“She is safe. And I am going to make sure no one will harm her, most of all, not you”, Raquel replied in a calm and almost steady voice.

“You fucking bitch!”, he whispered under effort.

Raquel tried not to flinch. His body was way too close to hers.

“Have you forgotten what happens when you’re not honest with me? Have you not learned at all? I should have beaten you to death, you little whore! I should have killed you before you stole my daughter from me”.

And before anyone could say another word he slapped her in the face.

Raquel had not expected that. Of course she knew he was violent but to hit her in front of a whole police corps and the secret service was mental.

“Alberto, calm yourself”, said Martinez loudly. He had let go of Raquel and tried to take Alberto to the back of the room. Raquel could feel her cheek burning. She had taken a few steps backwards, Antoñanzas, realizing the precarious situation, had moved towards the back of the room with her, though still holding her arms strongly behind her back.

Raquel was panting. If she hadn’t been handcuffed, she would have slapped Alberto right back in his stupid face. That was something she should have done years ago. But now that she had the courage to fight back, she wasn’t able to. She hated being this vulnerable again.

Alberto was still struggling with the other police officer. “Don’t give me orders, Martinez, she fucking deserves it“.

And he shoved him away, again making a move at Raquel. This time he used his fists. At her stomach, her breast, her face. One. Two. Three. Four. And again. And again.

Raquel could not defend herself with her hands cuffed behind her back. With every beat her body had to take she stumbled backwards, the guard with her. The room was in uproar. Several police officers made their way towards Alberto in order to stop him. With both hands he was now reaching for Raquel’s neck and began to strangle her. Raquel choked and tried to escape his grip. But he was stronger than her. When they finally managed to get Alberto away from Raquel she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Someone barely caught her from behind to soften the fall.

Alberto was brought outside.

Raquel was breathing heavily. She was lying on the floor, gasping for air. Her upper body hurt like hell. Her head felt dizzy and she started to see stars.

“Raquel!”, she could hear Suarez say, his voice seemed to come from a place far away. Raquel could see a silhouette above her and was brought to her feet again. When the hands let go of her she nearly dropped to the floor again.

“Bring a chair, quickly!”, someone shouted, then she was brought in a sitting position.

The pain didn’t stop. Raquel had trouble breathing as she recapitulated what had happened. The man who had mistreated her for years just beat her up in front of the whole investigation team. And even worse, he wanted Paula. Raquel felt like she was going to be sick. He could not get to Paula, she would never forgive herself for that. Her body filled with fear and Raquel longed for air again. She was shaking all over and her lungs didn’t seem to work anymore.

“She is hyperventilating”.

Raquel couldn’t speak. She barely realized what was happening around her.

“A panic attack”.

“Give her a sedative!”

Seconds later someone took her arm and before she could protest a needle pinched her skin.

Moments after that everything went dark. 


	5. Ángel

When Raquel woke she found herself lying on a couple of chairs that were provisorily put together. She had no idea how much time had passed since Alberto left the tent. The atmosphere in the room didn’t seem a lot different to when she had arrived so she figured it couldn’t have been more than one or two hours.

Raquel felt exhausted and demotivated. She hadn’t been long in custody and already she’d been beaten up and passed out. Already she had shown so much weakness. She felt broken.

Cautiously Raquel lifted her upper body and had to realize that her right hand was handcuffed to a chair. Her torso hurt like hell and Raquel let out a quiet moan. She immediately wanted to lay down again.

“Raquel”, said a voice.

It was Ángel. He was sitting in a chair next to her, looking exhausted. Raquel thought she could spot some grey shades in his hair. At the sight of her former co-inspector Raquel felt warmth flowing through her body. She was genuinely glad to see him although she was a bit scared of his feelings towards her. She had brought him in quite a situation when she had betrayed the police.

“Ángel”. Her voice sounded hoarse.

He replied with a sad smile. „Try to stay still, they won’t let us talk if they see you‘re awake“, he whispered.

She did like he said. For a while neither of them said anything. Raquel felt like crying. She wanted to throw herself in his arms and wait there until everything was over.

“I heard what happened with Alberto. Are you alright?”, Ángel asked.

Raquel bit her lip. “He knocked me about a bit”. She was still scared to move, frightened to damage even more of her body. Especially her jaw felt swollen and out of joint.

“I’m sorry”, said Ángel quietly.

Raquel couldn’t reply. When she moved her upper body she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her breast that cut her off from the air. For a few seconds she was desperately longing for oxygen while Ángel tried to support her. She attempted to breath in a steady rhythm which seemed to work.

“Raquel, you need a doctor.”

She led out a weak laugh. “Don’t be silly. Dead people don’t need doctors. Or lawyers for that matter.” When they had driven her to the tent she’d already presumed that the police were going completely off protocol by then. Ángel seemed to know that too because he just lowered his head in a stunned manner.

“I am so sorry, Raquel.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” She cautiously shifted her body so she could take a better look at him. “I am sorry I put you in this position”.

Ángel let out a silent sigh. „I just don’t quite understand it. You had a career, a life here. A house, a family”.

These words hurt more than Raquel had anticipated. The person who was supposed to know her the best, her investigative partner for 15 years, didn’t understand her decision.She felt accused. She wanted him to understand. And she was angry at him that he didn’t.

“Do you see that?”, she pulled up her shirt to show her stomach that was already covered with red and blue bruises. „Do you see what he’s capable of? I wouldn’t call that a life worth living when you’re always living with fear as your companion“.

Àngel looked caught. “But... we could have managed. I could have …”, he said, now sounding really unsure.

“What could you have done?”, Raquel snapped.

Ángel looked hurt, a look on his face, that Raquel knew far to well, and she directly felt sorry for it. She knew Ángel meant well. He was a gentle soul, but a fool, who had fallen in love with her and had never known how to let go.

“I am sorry”, she said. “You’re the only person I am actually glad to see and I snap at you.”

Ángel gave her a weak smile.

“Please just trust me when I say that this decision was the only decision I could have made. And it was not just Alberto. My career was over anyway. There was not much left of that perfect life I had. I had to save myself.”

“I’m sorry, Raquel”.

They silently looked at each other, both fearing what was yet to come. How would she save herself this time? Who would?

“Were you happy? With him? Wherever you lived?”

She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him about Palawan, about their beautiful house at the beach. About how happy Paula was and about how they’d become a real family. But she couldn’t, so she just nodded. “I was.”

Ángel gave her a weak smile. Raquel’s heart broke a little when she thought of all the pain that she’d caused him.

“I am really glad to see a friend here”, she said. “I mean… I still consider you my friend.”

“Me too”. Ángel sighed. “But I can’t help you here, Raquel”.

“I know”. She paused for a moment. “What is happening out there?”

Ángel hesitated. “Raquel, I … I really can’t”.

She sighed. “I get it.” Raquel’s heart was beating. She needed to know. She needed to know that there was some hope. She felt helpless. There had to be something she could do. Raquel’s thoughts were spinning; her brain was working itself back in negotiation mode. „Ángel“, she whispered fast. “You have to tell Sergio I’m alive”.

“Raquel ...”

“Please, Ángel. Just a small sign. He’s going on a rampage thinking the police executed me. People will die!”

Ángel shook his head in uncertainty.

“Don’t you see?”, Raquel attempted to convince him again. “It’s a mean trick. This is not a fair negotiation anymore. Sierra just wants to win, she doesn’t care about the hostages. She doesn’t care how many people will die. Everyone in that bank is more humane than she is.”

Ángel stared at her. She could see that he was struggling with himself. Before he could say anything though, Suárez entered the tent and noticed them talking.

“He Antoñanzas, she’s awake, walk her off, already”.

Antoñanzas, who had been talking with a colleague in a corner, hurried over. There was no chance for Ángel to answer Raquel.

“Inspector Rubio”, said Suárez. “I need you over here”.

When Ángel got up to follow Suárez, Raquel looked at him pleadingly, her eyebrows lifted in in anticipation of his answer. Ángel, barely recognizably, shook his head. His eyes were full of regret. Raquel’s heart sunk. She had wished for too much if she had thought her past would get her a potential ally in the police.


	6. Palawan

She had finally been brought to prison. And reality kicked in. Somehow Raquel had thought her past at the police would be an advantage. It had all felt so familiar. The tent, the people, the atmosphere. But this didn’t. Prison didn’t feel familiar. She had been locked into a single cell about five square meters small, with a plank bed. There was no pillow, no sheets, no toilet. It was so dark that Raquel couldn’t even see her own hand. She was hungry but of course there was no food. Every inch of her body ached. She didn’t like to admit it but Alberto had really gotten to her. Raquel tried not to obsess over what had happened. She’d used to do that back then. Over how it could have been her fault. How she was not strong enough to fight back or to leave him. The fact that she had been so easy prey for him earlier this day, was crushing her. She wondered if this would have consequences for Alberto. Probably not. She was a criminal now. Not worth more than that.

She didn’t feel like a criminal though. Were they really the bad ones? Raquel felt like what they were doing wasn’t less moral than what the police and the state were doing. The resistance mob on the streets showed her that they believed so too. That what she and Sergio were doing was still the right thing. Her mind wandered back to Sergio and to how two years ago everything had changed.

“Dou you have a charger? A charger … For the phone?” The bartender didn’t seem to understand.

“Battery ... “, Raquel hold up her phone to show him what she meant.

“If it is important you can use mine”.

The voice sent shivers through every inch of her body. It was him. 

Sergio looked exactly like she remembered him. The memory of him had been so distant and blurred, at times she’d even wondered if the images she had in her head were true or just a product of her imagination. 

For a while neither of them said anything. Raquel smiled and when he returned the gesture a blissful laughter escaped her body. They slowly approached each other.

“You came”, he said.

They looked into each others eyes and finally locked in a long embrace. For a second everything felt alright. They were together.

“Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?”, he asked, almost shyly, when he let go of her.

“Yes, I would like that.”

The beach was almost deserted at this time of the day. Raquel enjoyed the light of the sun, that was already setting. They silently walked along the shore. She had so many questions she wanted to ask but she didn’t know where to start. For now, his presence seemed enough. In the distance, Raquel saw a small child, desperately trying to catch a sea gull, that was waddling around in the sand. The bird was faster than the kid but the child seemed determined to get hold of its target. With an ambitious leap it made one more shot at the animal – but missed. When the bird flew into the air the child looked around with a puzzled look. They both chuckled. Sergio had apparently observed the same scene. Raquel watched the kid for a little bit longer but she could feel Sergio’s eyes on her.

“I didn’t know if you would still come”.

“I only looked at the postcards two weeks ago. I couldn’t endure to look at them when you left last year”. She inhaled. “I didn’t know if I should come”.

“I’m glad you’re here”.

They smiled at each other. Although Raquel told herself to take things slow – she didn’t even truly know this man – her heart made a leap when her eyes met Sergio’s.

“Do you live here alone?”, she asked.

“Yes. Security measures. We’re dispersed over all continents. I can show you my house later, if you like.” 

“That would be nice.”

They walked side by side in silence again. The kid had left the beach and they were completely alone. The only thing to hear were the motions of the sea and the wind. 

Suddenly Sergio came to an abrupt halt. “I am so sorry, Raquel”, he burst out.

She turned towards him and saw his pain-stricken face.

“I... I never meant to get you so caught up in everything. I just wanted to meet you to keep track of the investigation. And then all of a sudden we were … romantically involved and the plan was beginning to fall apart. I put you in a horrible position. I never meant to hurt you. I... I ruined your life.” As Sergio finished he was completely out of breath. Raquel eyed him for a second. 

“Come on”, she said with a gentle smile and took his hand. They began to walk again. 

“You didn’t ruin my life. It was already ruined”. 

Sergio began to shake his head.

“Listen”, she said intensely before he could object. “Do you know what my life looked like? I was working ten hours a day with so-say colleagues who didn’t respect me enough to follow my orders. Just to come home and find my daughter already asleep. I barely saw her anymore and my abusive ex-husband trying to get full custody didn’t help the situation.” She stopped to look Sergio in the eyes. “Trust me. I was miserable. And I am not going to say that the past year wasn’t full of shit but quitting the police was one of the best decisions I could have made. Of course my life got turned upside down but I have to live with that now. And you’re going to have to live with that too.”

“But you didn’t have a choice.” 

“I told you in the hangar I was with you. That was my decision.” 

“Hm”, Sergio made, but said nothing more. He seemed to accept that for now.

They started to walk again.

“If it hadn’t been for you the police probably would have caught us.”, he began, calmer now. “Thanks for deciding we were worth it.”

“I told them where the hangar was eventually. Prieto threatened to take Paula away from me. But I had hoped I could buy you just enough time.”

“I completely understand”, said Sergio quickly. “Did they give you a hard time after the heist? What happened?” 

“Surprisingly little. Prieto kept his word. When I told him the location of the hanger he let go of all charges. Then I quit. They would have fired me anyway so I figured I would take things into my own hands.” 

Sergio nodded. “Do you miss it? Being in the police?” 

Raquel thought about that. “Yes, I do.”, she finally said. “You know, everyone who decides to join the police has their reasons. You don’t just enroll for fun. I guess, I always wanted to contribute to the justice system. I like when things are fair.” A laugh escaped her. “That obviously didn’t work out for me anymore. So, yes, I miss it. But quitting was overdue”.

Sergio nodded comprehensively.

“And besides, I really enjoy spending more time with Paula now. She realizes that there were … complications at work, but she’s overjoyed that I spend so much time at home now.” 

“Good. I’m glad. And let me just add… you were terrific at your job. I can only admire how you handled the crisis at the bank. No, I really mean it”, he added, when he saw her sceptical expression. “Also, fighting for justice isn’t a feat solely reserved for the police. You can still do that.” 

“That’s probably true”, she concluded. She loved they way he made her feel when he talked to her. The way he apparently saw her. Raquel studied him from the side and gave him a radiant smile. His eyes were glowing in response.

“Now tell me about your life here. Why Palawan?”, she asked, eager to find out how he was doing.

“Well… I have always rather enjoyed the secluded places on this earth. Palawan seemed like a good choice. My house is directly at the beach, I get fresh fruit from the surrounding trees and excellent books from the library in town.”

Raquel chuckled. Concentrating on something so seemingly unimportant like fresh fruit und books was so characteristic for the man she met one year ago.

Sergio took her to his house which was beautiful yet humble. They sat on the terrace, drank red wine and talked the whole night. Sergio told Raquel all about the heist, how he had planed everything in advance, and filled her in about the last details that she hadn’t yet concluded on her own. Raquel realized there was so much of Salva in Sergio. Talking to him now was a confirmation that he wasn’t like the criminals she’d encountered in her career. He wasn’t driven by a thirst for money or violence, he had been wronged by the system and tried to find his justice by fulfilling his father’s legacy. Recapitulating the days of the heist was like therapy for both of them. There had been so many feelings of guilt on both sides. So many insecurities, regrets and questions. At the end of the evening there was only forgiveness.

They slept together later that night. Being close to each other only felt natural. The five days they had spent with each other last year, as short as they were, had left an imprint in both their memories, their hearts and souls were longing for more. When the rising sun woke them a few hours later they returned to the beach and sat in the sand by the shore. Everything was calm.

Finally, Sergio turned to Raquel. “What do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know.”, she responded quietly, knowing what he’d really meant. “I came here because I thought it would give me some sort of closure. I thought I could start new after this trip. I’m glad that I came. But to be honest … I don’t want to leave now.”

“Then stay”, he said.

Raquel laughed and rolled her eyes at him.

„I mean it“, he suddenly became really excited. „Raquel, think about it. You could start new here. With me.“

“Sergio, I have a daughter and a mother waiting for me in Spain”.

“They could live here. The house is big enough. Paula can go to an international school in town. We could both take care of your mother. And we’re basically rich.“

Raquel smirked at that last sentence. She quietly thought about everything he said. She wasn’t sure she could do that. But what was really waiting for her back in Madrid? The only thing that truly mattered to her was her family. And he was so enthusiastic about his idea. This really could be the new beginning she had dreamt about.

Two months later, in a cloak-and-dagger operation, Raquel moved to Palawan with Paula and Marívi. No one had known and, because she was certain that she was still being monitored by the police and the secret service, everything went down with fake passports and several detours on the way to the Philippines. Raquel left her old life for good. There was no turning back now. But from the moment she left Madrid she never doubted her decision. 


	7. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: torture

Raquel woke with a start. There were voices outside her cell. She couldn’t remember how long she had laid awake before she fell asleep. She hadn’t even wanted to sleep but that was probably just her body’s natural reaction to the complete exhaustion of the last few hours. She couldn’t possibly tell what time it was. It could have been eight hours or ten minutes. The door to her cell opened and bright light blended her eyes. Before she was able to properly assert the situation someone took her by the arms and forced her to her feet. A second person put both her hands in handcuffs. A push on the back made her take a few steps forward.

“Come on, faster”, barked one of the guards and they manoeuvred Raquel out of the cell.

Walking was painful. Raquel was barely able to hold herself upright. With every step she felt a sharp pain in her breast and stomach and her head was aching in such a penetrant manner that she feared she was going to pass out any second. Keeping track of her surroundings seemed nearly impossible. She barely realized that she was brought into an interrogation room and made to sit down in a chair. Her hands were shackled to an appliance on the table in front of her. She let them. Resisting never did any good in cases like these. The guards left and Raquel was alone.

The wall facing her was equipped with a one-way-mirror. For the first time in the past hours Raquel saw her face. Her eyes were hollow and her skin was bruised and scratched from the flight in the woods. Most present though was the swollen wound that spread from chin to cheek. Alberto’s souvenir. A sharp pain in her forehead made her close her eyes in agony. She wanted so badly to lay her head on the table and rest. But she had to be vigilant. They were probably watching her right now and she needed to come to her senses before the interrogation started. The fact that they wanted to question her once more probably meant that they hadn’t caught the others yet. The heist was still going on. But they couldn’t get any information out of her. No, Raquel told herself, it was not going to happen. She took a deep breath and concentrated on ignoring the ringing in her ears. They would not get her to spill anything about the flight. It was Sergio’s only chance to get the gang out of the bank, and possibly Raquel out of prison.

The door to the interrogation room opened and hit the wall with a loud bang. Raquel flinched. Alicia Sierra entered. She wore the same outfit as she had in the tent, so it was probably still the same day. Good. That meant that not much could have happened in the meantime. 

“Slept well?”, Alicia asked when she closed the door and shifted her pregnant body towards the interrogation table. Raquel only eyed her with anguish. She would not waste her strength to go along with Sierra’s stupid chit-chat game.

The inspectora sat down in front of Raquel and smirked. “You look terrible”. Raquel simply watched her. Alicia seemed to wait for a response, a sign that Raquel was going to give in to her mind games and start talking. She could wait long for that. Raquel raised her eyebrows, a small act of defiance she wanted to retain. Alicia sighed.

“Well, let’s cut to the chase then. It doesn’t look good for your friends. We’re going in shortly and whether they come out of the bank alive or dead is completely your choice.” She leaned forward and Raquel could smell her breath. It smelled of gum. “If you tell us how they’re planning to escape we might just be able to get this over with peacefully.”

Raquel shook her head. “Come on, you don’t even believe that yourself.”

Alicia pressed her lips together and closed her eyes for just a second. She didn’t seem that calm now either.

“You are going to lose. And no matter what’s going to happen in that bank, Raquel, as accomplice of this heist, you’re not avoiding imprisonment. So the question you should ask yourself is: Do you want to make your life in prison even more unbearable? I can help you, Raquel”.

“The fuck you’re going to do”, Raquel snapped at her. “You’ve got nothing. Otherwise you wouldn’t come to me with this lame proposition, if you can even call it that.”

“And what do you have? Be smart, Raquel. In short time, we will have your boyfriend, either way. You can decide if the two of us are on good terms, or not. Who will take care of your mother when we find her? What about poor Paulita? Alberto would love to take her in.”

Raquel’s breathing began to quicken. Paula and her mother. Her weak spot.

“Come on, Raquel. Don’t be a fool. Do it for your child”. Sierra looked at her pregnant belly with a gentle smile. “I know I would”.

Suddenly, Raquel got really angry. “Oh, stop it with your stupid psycho-games. You’ll never know what true love for a child even feels like. Even as a pregnant woman you don’t show any sign of compassion. Your child will say ‘whore’ before it can say ‘momma’.”

Sierra’s smile faded from her lips. “You really want to talk back to me like this right now? You should have thought about that earlier.” Alicia never took her eyes off Raquel. “Gonzáles! I need you here inside!”, she ordered. A second later a tall man entered the room and stood closely behind Raquel. What was happening? Raquel shifted nervously in her chair.

“We’re going to try this again.”

Before Raquel could react, she felt a cold material on her neck. The sharp tip of an object pressed on her skin. In a millisecond her heart rate went up. She instinctively let out a loud gasp that Alicia completely ignored.

“How are they planning to escape?”, asked Alicia with a sharp look in her eyes.

Was this a bluff? They couldn’t seriously be intending to hurt her. Something like this would have to have consequences. Unless everyone involved was willing to look away for the ‘greater good’ of this case.

When Raquel didn’t yield the pressure on her neck intensified.

“Tell me or he’ll slowly cut your neck open”, threatened Alicia.

Raquel couldn’t. Although at this moment she seriously feared for her life she wouldn’t give in. They wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of faking her death just to kill her after all. No, she wouldn’t talk. Not after everything they‘d been through. They might still have a chance.

When she stayed quiet the tip of the knife traced up and down her skin, under her neck, over her lips until it finally cut her left cheek.

The pain was excruciating. Raquel groaned in agony and tried to pull her face away from the blade but the man was firmly holding her head from behind. The loud rattle of the handcuffs that bound Raquel’s hands to the table reminded her that she wasn’t able to escape or resist. He made a pause after one cut that seemed to stretch over her whole cheek. Raquel could already feel the blood running down her face and saw that the white table beneath her was beginning to fill with thick red drops. The pain made her let out a few suppressed sobs.

“Uncomfortable, isn’t it?”, said Alicia playfully. This was where she flourished. “I advise you to think really hard again. Are you sure there’s nothing you’d like to share with me?”

“Fuck you”, Raquel got out under effort.

Alicia disappointedly shook her head and motioned to Gonzáles. This time the knife found its way to her lips, traced around them and finally cut the skin at the corner of her mouth, slowly and painful. Raquel was panting and her eyes felt with water. She could taste the blood now. Sierra moved very close to Raquel’s face. She seemed to enjoy her sight.

“You are completely alone. You will never see the gang again, you will never see your mother or your daughter again, let alone your precious boyfriend. Come on. A criminal and a former policewoman. That’s too romantic to be true.” She really seemed to enjoy saying the words that followed. “He doesn’t love you. He is just using you. Protecting him now might be honourable of you but is simply really foolish.”

That did it. Heavy tears were escaping Raquel‘s cheeks. She didn’t believe Alicia‘s tales, but she was right about her family. No matter how the heist ended, Raquel was going to go to prison. She would not be with any of them again. At least for a very long time. Things were never going to be the way they were before. She would not return to their cozy house in Palawan, wouldn‘t watch Paula and Sergio play at the beach, wouldn‘t feel the warmth of Paula‘s embrace when she seeked her mother‘s comfort or the sensation of being in Sergio‘s arms while watching the beautiful Palawanian sunset. These were things of the past and that sudden realization felt like a hollow punch in her gut.

Alicia took Raquel’s chin in one hand and looked her deeply in the eyes. “Hard to realize the truth, isn’t it?”

Suddenly the air in the room seemed to fade away. The pain, both physical and emotional, was too much. Raquel didn’t know how much more of it she could endure before she’d pass out and become an empty shell. She felt like she‘d just lost the last remaining piece of dignity she had retained. She closed her eyes. Her body just couldn‘t cope any longer.

A sharp ringing filled the silence. Alicia turned away in one movement and grabbed a mobile phone from her pocket.

“Yes, Suárez?”

On the other end of the line someone seemed to talk in a rushed and agitated voice.

“Fine. I’m coming.” Alicia ended the call. She seemed to think for a second, then she smirked and looked at Raquel: “And you’re coming with me.”


	8. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's been quite a while... Sorry for not uploading for a few weeks, uni kind of kept me busy.  
Just know that I will continue writing and that everything's already planed out. It might just take me a bit longer sometimes. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, please feel free to leave kudos and comments!

The drive back to the investigation tent was a blur. There were only fragments of consciousness – being dragged through a building, pushed into a car, chained to a seat – and there was pain. So much pain. Raquel hated her body for making her so vulnerable and defenceless. Only when the car slowed down did she regain some consciousness. This time she could see their surroundings through the tinted one-way windows. A few hundred meters outside the bank there was barely room for the vehicle to move. Hundreds of people were protesting, wearing red clothes and carrying banners. They were screaming chants that Raquel couldn’t understand but anyone who became voyeur of this scene knew: These people were furious. This was beyond a demonstration; this was an angry mob with an overdue date. The police were losing the citizens of Spain and there was nothing they could do to stop them – unless they managed to end the heist right now. Seeing this living red organism moving towards the bank gave Raquel goose bumps. She suddenly felt more awake again. Knowing that so many supported the professor and his ideology gave her strength. Raquel was surprised at how much effect the sheer amount of people on the street had on her physical constitution. She was nowhere near to be freed of the pain, but her head was clearer. She could think again. Not everything had been lost yet. And the fact that Raquel was brought to the tent again and not left to rot in a prison cell meant that she would at least be closer to the crime scene. She vowed to do anything in her powers to help the gang, even if that meant she had to put the investigation tent on fire.

Inside Suárez came rushing to Alicia. “Inspectora! The government is pressuring us to end this, no matter what. We can’t control the people outside anymore. We have to act now”.

When he noticed Raquel who was uncomfortably standing behind Alicia he gestured towards her. “What happened to her?”

Alicia barely turned her head towards Raquel. “Alberto Vicuña happened. You were there, Suárez”.

“No, I mean her face. It looks like someone sliced her cheeks open”.

“I don’t have time for this, Suárez. Don’t question my methods if you want to end this”, Alicia said sharply.

Suárez said nothing.

They moved towards a desk across the room where Tamayo joined them while Raquel was shuffled into the nearest chair. She tried to overhear what Sierra and the others were saying. Tamayo was insistently talking to Sierra.

“She won’t talk”, heard Raquel her say.

“Then make her talk”. That was Tamayo’s angry voice.

“Either way we have to act now”, Suárez said.

Sierra sighed, turned towards the room and demanded loudly: “I want to talk to the professor. Now!”

The room got quiet.

“Inspectora, we haven’t found a way to get in touch with him. We can’t trace the calls back to their source”.

Tamayo’s patience seemed to have run out. “Whatever. Inspectora, what are you waiting for? We have her”. He motioned to Raquel. “Contact the press. Show him that she’s still alive and that he can save her. Let us negotiate”.

Sierra inhaled sharply. “Do you want the public to run down this tent? Because this is exactly what they’re going to do if they find out we have her. No, I want to negotiate in private”.

“There is no way”, cried Tamayo.

“Silence”, someone called from the other side of the room. “Breaking News on television. It’s the professor”.

Tamayo and Sierra stopped their argument and turned towards the television screens. “Turn the volume up!”

Raquel’s heart seemed to skip a beat. There he was. Sergio. He looked miserable. The setting was the same as when he first addressed the public two days ago, just before the heist. Now he looked pale in his bright red overall. His eyes were so small, probably from crying, Raquel wondered if he could even see properly. Just the thought that Sergio was sitting alone in their back-up van, mourning yet desperately trying to keep it together, having no idea that she was sitting at the very site of the crime scene watching him right now, made her heart ache. He was safe for now. They hadn’t caught him. But she feared what he was about to say on national television.

The room was so quiet that one could have heard a needle drop. Then Sergio’s voice filled the silence.

“A few hours ago the peaceful procedure of this heist was interrupted against our wishes. I want to explain to everyone, to all our supporters, why this happened”. His voice was hoarse, crushed even. He made a short pause. “We started this heist because one of us was being tortured and interrogated by the police without a fair trial, without any constitutional foundation. As you know they let Rio go. You have the right to learn what acts of brutality the state enforces when its desperate”. Sergio leaned forward and pressed the button on a recording device. Rio’s voice came from the speakers and Raquel heard, once again, what Rio had told them about his imprisonment. “I was drugged up. While interrogating me they forced me to inhale some gas. I don’t know what the fuck it was”.

People in the tent were beginning to whisper to each other.

“They left me in my cell for hours after I’d peed and shit on my pants. Days. I don’t know. I was completely sure they were going to shoot me and bury me in the desert. Every day I woke wondering if that day was my last day”.

Raquel swallowed. Would this go on like this? Would she soon be facing Rio’s former fate?

On the screen, Sergio seemed exhausted. Raquel wished so badly she could be there with him. He continued. “This morning the police again showed their lack of humanity. Before any negotiation could be made the police forces decided to destroy our mutual understanding of a pacifistic approach by pointing a gun at one of our own. Nairobi is currently in a critical state. We don’t know if she will survive the next hour”. Raquel inhaled sharply. Nairobi. Sierra hadn’t bluffed.

“Meanwhile Lisboa and I were discovered and hunted through the woods”.

Raquel hadn’t thought it possible that Sergio’s face could grow even darker. His features suddenly seemed to slide from his face and a tear rolled down his cheek.

“This morning a police officer executed Lisboa”. Raquel forgot to breathe for a second. She could feel his pain in her entire body. Everyone could see that he attempted to keep his composure.

“She wasn’t armed. She wasn’t a threat. She surrendered”, he continued under suppressed sobs. “And they shot her”. Again, Sergio pressed a button and Raquel could experience her own execution again. This time from the perspective of someone who only had their ears to rely on. And she had to admit, she would have thought herself to be dead without a doubt. Alicia’s plan had worked.

For a few seconds it was quiet. Then Sergio raised his head. His eyes were full of sadness but his voice gave off the bitterest of sounds. “It can’t go on like this. We have to resist. That’s why when we saw police troops coming towards the bank we were forced to protect ourselves by firing back. We had to resist. We have to resist against corrupt states, against cruel police forces. And I ask all of you: Resist. For us, for yourselves, for everyone who is being pushed down by the authorities”. With effort he got out the last words of his speech. “Because otherwise they will silence all of us”.

The screen turned black. While everyone was anxiously waiting for Sierra to react, Tamayo angrily cried out. “Shit!”

Alicia only turned to Tamayo with a devious smile. She was brooding over a new evil plan.

Raquel closed her eyes in defeat. What Tamayo didn’t realise was that now the police had the upper hand. Yes, the public would go absolutely nuts, but if the police were clever they could show the public that Raquel was still alive and that Sergio had actually been lying to his supporters. He hadn’t, of course, but if properly executed, that wouldn’t matter to the public. Sergio would lose their support and confronted with the threat of loosing Raquel for good when they showed him she was still alive he’d have to give in eventually.

In his message, Sergio had reacted to the latest events but Raquel knew that last part of the speech by heart. Sergio had written it a few weeks ago and she had gotten goose bumps when he read it out loud to her. It was meant to agitate the protestors on the street once more. One last distraction. Which meant that the professor had put Plan Palawan into effect. They were escaping. Raquel could only hope that they were going to be faster then the police.

Sierra, Tamayo and Suárez were rapidly debating their next move in a corner of the room. But everyone was in uproar. People were anxiously discussing the events and the tent became a bee-hive. When the telephone rang, Sierra snapped: “Everyone! Silence”.

The room turned quiet again. Was that him?

Sierra picked up but it wasn’t Sergio’s voice that came over the speakers.

“Inspectora Sierra?”

“Yes?”

“This situation can’t hold itself any longer. The forces have to go in. Order from above”.

Sierra inhaled sharply. “Alright. We’re preparing for invasion”. She hung up.

Raquel shook her head. She would have thought twice about ordering an operation this big. It could kill several people on both sides and was only ever the last solution. Sierra however didn’t even flinch.

“You heard it. Everyone, prepare! More orders follow in a few minutes”.

Tamayo, Suárez and Sierra turned to each other again to discuss their strategy when Almanza rushed to Sierra.

“Inspectora, we found them”, was the only thing Raquel could overhear. He handed Alicia a small piece of paper. A smile spread over her face as she turned towards Raquel a few moments later. “I have an idea”.

She gestured Suárez and Tamayo to follow her. In the few seconds that it took Sierra to cross the room a million thoughts crossed Raquel’s mind. She couldn’t help but feel the anxiety rising in her chest again.

“Change of plans”, Sierra announced with a smirk. “I am sending our units in right now. The press is outside documenting their every move. That’s why you will be going in with them”.

“What?”, was Suárez’ immediate reaction. Tamayo eyed him with a warning look.

Raquel’s eyed had widened in shock. Had she really just suggested that?

“No”, said Raquel, her voice clearly depicting how absurd she found this command.

“Oh, you will”, sang Alicia. “And you know why? That’s the real beauty of it”. She slammed the piece of paper that Almanza had given her on the table. It was a photography of two people that Raquel recognized immediately. “We have found your mother and your daughter”.

What Raquel had feared this entire time had now happened. The picture showed Mariví and Paula together in front of a wall, like in a mug shot. Both of them looked scared as hell.

“I had our forces search them all over the world, especially South East Asia. We found them on the Philippines”.

Raquel only had one thought. “If you hurt them I will personally rip your heart out”.

“That won’t be necessary. If you show yourself compliant”.

Raquel made a disbelieving sound. She didn’t know how to react to the multitude of events that had occurred over the last few minutes. What was happening didn't feel real anymore.

“I want the press to show everyone that she’s still alive”, Sierra announced to Tamayo and Suárez. “More than that, she’s going to be part of our task force. The public will see that the professor’s a manipulative liar. That in reality their _Lisboa_ is not dead but insightfully changed sides. And you”, she turned towards Raquel again, “you are not going to show any sign of resistance. Otherwise…”, Sierra took the photography of Paula and Mariví. “Poor Paulita. It would be so sad to see her die so young. She wouldn’t survive a single day in prison”.

This was it. Without thinking Raquel leaped up from her chair and lunged at Alicia. This wouldn’t help her situation, of course, but her maternal instincts were the only thing driving her at this moment. She just wanted this woman to suffer, she wanted to hurt her – for what she’d done to Nairobi, for what she was willing to do to her mother and her daughter.

But Suárez’ quick reflexes prevented her from doing anything at all. He grabbed Raquel by the shoulders and pushed her into the chair again where he held her until she didn’t struggle anymore. Her rage stayed, however.

“You are breaking thousands of rules”, Raquel snarked at Alicia who had taken a few steps back.

“They are not in Spain. We’re not breaking the rules. We’re not harming them, we just have the necessary contacts. Now get her ready for the camera”.

To Raquel’s surprise Suárez intervened. “Inspectora, you are sending her on a suicide mission. The order to send the task force in is a big enough risk on its own. She is not trained for this kind of operation”.

“Suárez”, said Tamayo in a low voice. That was a warning.

“You can’t just send her in with the task force. She is not going to make it out alive”.

Alicia made a go to end this discussion. “She is going in with you as part of the third troop. She won’t be the first to enter that bank”.

Suárez was not content. “Inspectora, we are not authorized to do this. This is a violation of human rights”.

He had gotten louder while talking and several heads were turning towards them now. Tamayo grabbed Suárez by the arm and tried to lead him away. “You are going to shut your damn mouth or I will fire you, Suárez”, he whispered under effort. “We don’t have a choice”.

Tamayo seemed desperate himself.

“You always have a choice”, Raquel suddenly said. The three of them turned towards her. “Do you even care about any of the hostages in that bank anymore? Look at yourselves. You’re sending a deadly army into a building full of innocent people. Nothing guarantees that not one of them will get hurt”.

“Well, desperate times call for desperate measures”, said Tamayo.

“Well, some of us have morals”, Raquel bit.

Alicia stepped forward. “And where have these morals brought you, Raquel? Need I remind you: When you were in charge of the first heist, what did happen? Everyone escaped! Your foolishness is the reason that we’re even here in the first place. I am correcting your mistakes”.

Raquel shook her head. “Not a single one of the hostages was killed during the first heist. Considering the primary task of the police – protecting the citizens of this country – I call that a win. But for you it’s all or nothing, isn’t it? You might get rid of us, you might be able to get us all locked up in prison or kill us before we get there. But for what price?” Realizing that nobody was interrupting her, Raquel raised her voice. “Has anyone here thought about why there are so many protesters on the street? This is not just a robbery anymore. You might be able to end the heist. But the movement will not end here. This has already grown beyond us. And for good reason”.

In the tent it was quiet for a moment. Alicia seemed to boil with rage. “What are you standing around for?”, she barked at everybody present. “Let’s do this“.


	9. Plan Palawan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> I had a really hard time with this chapter, so please go easy on me :D  
While writing, I had to find out that action scenes really aren't my strong suit. I also didn't have any idea how and when to distribute all the different information... so I hope this makes sense to you. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you still enjoy this chapter, please let me know what you think :)

In the end, nothing Raquel said really mattered. She had never truly had a choice. They had her mother and her daughter. How could she not oblige Alicia knowing the misery she would put her family into?

But Sergio was also her family. How could she possibly decide? She would simply have to trust the gang to escape before the forces went in. If everything went according to plan they might have a chance. Besides, the troops were going to go in either way, so Raquel’s predicament wasn’t the actual cause of this mess. Still, she feared what was going to happen in that bank. For Alicia it was a clever way to get rid of her. To the public and the authorities, she would be the former inspectora who had come to her senses again and teamed up with the police once more. If she died now, it would seem like it was her choice. She would die a hero. Or a traitor, depending on whose side you were on. An easy way out for Sierra.

But to Raquel only three people in this world mattered. Her mother and her daughter, for whose lives she was risking her own right now, and Sergio, who didn’t even know that she was still alive.

Outside the tent Raquel stood beside Suárez and the rest of the task force who were waiting to receive the last commands. Countless camera flashes were impairing Raquel’s sight. From a few meters distance there were a great number of eager journalists with cameras and microphones, desperate to catch every second of this historical event. Raquel had seen Tamayo giving a statement to a few of the reporters. By now her face would be all over live television. They had released her from the handcuffs and given her a police uniform to wear. She had been allowed to freshen up a bit and someone had put a ton of make-up on her face and neck to cover up the bruises. If you didn’t come too near she looked almost normal. You wouldn’t have assumed that Raquel had been used as a human punching back.

They hadn’t allowed her to have a gun. Comprehensibly so, thought Raquel, because otherwise she probably would have still tried to run away and defend herself at some point. At least she was given an earpiece which would enable her to hear Sierra’s and Tamayo’s instructions from outside the bank. The police gear seemed to push her body towards the ground and Raquel felt exhausted only from holding herself upright. How would she manage to survive in that bank? Of course, combat, shooting and physical defence had been part of her training, but actually being part of a swat team was a different calibre. Plus, without a gun, she would have to count on the bullet proof vest she was wearing and the shield she had been given.

Raquel glanced down the line-up of police men and women. They were almost set. Beside her Suárez was still visibly tense. Sierra had given him instructions to not let Raquel out of sight which meant that one of his subordinators would take lead of the task force in the bank. Suárez would only be in charge of the third troop. Raquel knew he didn’t like that. Suárez was a born leader. Whilst he could get angry afterwards, he was always rational and level-headed during operations. He didn’t think much of the manipulation and mind games that Sierra utilized, his focus was always more fact-oriented and process-driven. Now, he wasn’t in full charge anymore. He had become a personal babysitter.

“Alright!”, Sierra announced herself as she walked up and down the line of police men. “This is our final manoeuvre. Our opponents are well equipped, be prepared for deadly weapons. Save as many hostages as possible and don’t let any of those rats escape that bank. In case of emergency: shoot. Don’t let them get away. Understood?”

“Understood!”, echoed the choir of soldiers in unison. Suárez made an upset noise. Raquel knew far too well that he was more than unsatisfied with this situation. They were risking too many possible innocent deaths. This wouldn’t end well.

The first troop made their way towards the bank. While Raquel and the other six members of her troop were waiting for green light she could almost feel the cameras focussing on her once more. By now the whole of Spain would believe that she was part of the police force again, that she had never truly been in favour of the resistance. And that their lead figure had been lying to them, playing them. If this bore any good, it was that Sergio would soon find out that Raquel was still alive. If she survived this, he could rescue her. If they both survived this. Raquel didn’t dare to put that hope in her mind. Right now she had to focus.

Sierra walked down the line of police men and woman but stopped in front of Raquel and put her hands on both of Raquel’s shoulders. “Good luck, Raquel. Nice doing business with you.“

Raquel didn’t dare to show any reaction considering the cameras but internally she boiled with rage. With one last contemptuous smirk Alicia turned away and ordered their troop to move towards the bank.

Raquel took one last deep breath before taking her helmet. In a quick movement Suárez grabbed her arm. “Don’t do anything stupid, no single-handed stunts.” It wasn’t a threat, more a serious-meant advice. “I can’t protect you that way.“

Raquel sought his gaze and thought she could see concern in his eyes. She nodded. Better to have an ally on this side. They both put on their helmets and headed towards the bank.

The instructions were as followed: The first troop would work with explosives and smoke-bombs to clear the entrance and make way for the force to enter the bank. The smoke would distract anyone waiting to fire heavy arms in that bank and the explosives would hopefully force them deeper into the inner part of the building. Raquel saw the explosion from a distance and prayed no one had been near that entrance. If her calculations were correct though the gang wouldn’t be in that part of the building any more. She could see the first two troops entering, they quickly followed.

Inside the bank the air was full of smoke and the floor was covered by stones from the exploded walls. Thanks to her helmet lights Raquel quickly had a grasp of where they were. There was no one to be seen in the foyer of the bank. Troop one had already made their way upstairs to the first floor. Suárez was leading his group in the opposite direction so they could cover more ground. Slowly the troop approached every corner. Raquel had no trouble to integrate into their pattern of movements, she still knew all the protocols by heart, although she had never been part of a team like this. With every empty room they discovered Raquel let out a silent breath of relief. She didn’t want to see any member of the gang or any hostages here. That would mean their plan hadn’t worked. The sheer horror of finding herself faced with members of the gang was making her shiver. She was sure, any confrontation would lead to deaths on both sides. And she only had a vest and a shield to protect herself. Not that she had been wanting to shoot someone, but without a gun, she felt naked and helpless. Plus, with the police gear that gang wouldn’t recognize her. To them she was supposed to be dead. She was easy prey, not really part of any side. This could only end fatally.

From their point of view, the bank seemed quiet and abandoned. No soul was to be found and with every “clear“ that Suárez announced, Raquel‘s hopes grew. Suddenly she heard people shouting from where they’d just come from. They came to a halt.

“Turn around. Follow the voices”, ordered Suárez. “Go!“

They jogged through the halls towards the noise. When they came near to the foyer, Raquel saw several people in red overalls on the gallery of the entrance hall. They seemed to be fighting with each other. They were also completely oblivious to their surroundings and hadn’t noticed the troop yet. Suárez stopped at the doors. The others followed suit, their guns raised.

“Five people in red overalls at the gallery.”, reported Suárez to Sierra.

“Robbers or hostages?”, Raquel heard Alicia’s voice through the earpiece.

“Can’t confirm anything yet. We’re approaching.”

Before they could burst into the foyer however, a bang echoed from the gallery. One of the targets had pulled out a gun and had fired what seemed to have been a warning shot at the ceiling. The person was now aiming the pistol at the remaining Dalís who quickly kneeled on the floor, hands raised.

“At least one robber, they are armed.”, reported Suárez.

The other members of their troop stayed still, guns still raised, in anticipation of the next command.

“Shoot them”, ordered Sierra.

In the few seconds since the discovery of the targets several thoughts had crossed Raquel’s mind. Something was off here. If the gang had successfully put _Plan Palawan_ into action, this wasn’t supposed to be happening. They should be gone by now, not randomly tormenting hostages. Suddenly a memory flashed before Raquel’s mind. Several people in red overalls on the roof of the money factory, one seemingly threatening the others. A decision, green light, a shot … and an innocent person injured. No, this wasn’t right. The hostages weren’t supposed to be here. But the gang neither.

“Don’t shoot.”, hissed Raquel, just as Suárez was about to enter the foyer and make himself visible to the group.

He hesitated. “What?”

“They’re hostages.”

“Of course you’d say that.”,

“Suárez, don’t make this mistake. You can’t be sure they’re robbers.”

“How would you know?” Suárez was impatient of course, not wanting to lose precious time that would possibly cost someone’s life.

_ “Professor, how are we going to escape?“, asked Nairobi. _

_“This is very difficult “, said Sergio. “So listen closely. And take notes.” He was especially looking at Tokyo now who rolled her eyes._

_“For the escape plan it is necessary that we make ourselves invisible. I anticipate that they’re going to attack. We’re going to use that to our advantage. And how do you make yourself invisible amidst an army of police men?“_

_Sergio looked around the room in anticipation._

_“Become part of it“, concluded Nairobi and smirked. _

_“Exactly“, he said and pulled out a police uniform from under his desk. _

Raquel bit her lip. She was torn.

“The robbers aren’t wearing red overalls anymore”, she finally said.

“What?”

“It’s part of the escape plan.”

Suárez hesitated. “Why should I trust you?”

Raquel hated this. She didn’t want to give up information about the plan. But this was about innocent lives. She would not let them make the same mistake that she had made when she had falsely ordered to shoot the director of the money factory.

“They’re wearing police uniforms in order to escape”, Raquel revealed. “Is that enough for you to not shoot an innocent person?”

Suárez cursed. “Abort”, he said into the microphone. “We’re approaching and encircling them. Go!”, he motioned to his team.

Raquel felt like a rat.

They set foot into the entrance hall and dispersed. Sierra’s voice came from the earpiece. “Suárez, wh-.” Then there was a sudden turmoil and the connection broke.

An explosion had shaken the entrance hall. Everything quaked and Raquel instinctively threw herself on the ground. Walls and pillars seemed to crash and she could barely shield herself from the falling pieces. For a second she didn’t know where up and down were, then the explosion eased up into unsteady rumbling.

There was a sharp ringing in Raquel’s ears. She carefully sat up to assert the situation. The explosion seemed to be over but the damage it had done was immense. Masses of stone were shattered on the floor and the fallen pillars now blocked the way through the entrance hall. The others were all out of reach. Raquel could hear them rumbling behind a wall of debris but she couldn‘t see them.

That was her chance. Without thinking twice, she rose and headed into the opposite direction of were they had come from. She might still be able to catch up with the gang and actually escape with them.

Through the earpiece Raquel heard crackling sounds, only bits and pieces of words and then nothing. That would have to be the frequency-blockers Marseille was using.

Carefully Raquel headed towards the stairs that led to the cellar. Raquel knew this building by heart, she had studied every single corner of it on architectural plans. When she came across the storage rooms the slowed down and opened a door. The gang might still have some of their equipment in there. She was right. Guns, bullets, explosives, everything the heart desired. Fully equipped Raquel left the storage room and made her way downstairs. The earpiece was still giving off unintelligible noises. She had no idea were the rest of the troops were, but the same probably accounted for the others too, which could play to her advantage. Suddenly, when she arrived at the vault, Raquel nearly fell. She looked at what she’d almost stumbled upon. It was a trigger for an explosion device. Oh no. Something wasn’t right.

_“Professor, what are we going to do with the hostages?“, asked Denver. _

_“We‘ll let them go so the police will have to save them first. That will give us more time“, figured Estocolmo. _

_“No“, said Sergio and shook his head. “This is more difficult than last time. Our escape plan is built on the assumption that the forces are going in. But inside we might need some sort of leverage in case something goes wrong. For that we have the hostages.“ _

_Sergio went around the mini model of the bank of Spain and picked up several playmobil figures that were supposed to represent the hostages. _

_“We bring the hostages downstairs, where they help us to carry the gold. When they‘re finished we lock them in a room next to the vault.“ He put the figures in mentioned location. _

_“Next, we’re going to place explosives at the walls.“ _

_Palermo excitedly got up to assist the Professor with fixing tiny explosive replicas at the model._

_“That’s our leverage“, Sergio concluded. “We can control the fate of all the hostages with just one touch of a button.”_

_“And then ‚BOOM‘“, exclaimed Palermo excitedly and moved his hands towards the replica of the bank._

_“No!“, said Sergio, keeping him back with his left arm. “We’re not going to press that button. Never. But it’s necessary that they know we _could_ let it explode.“_

_“Because”, Palermo went on, “when we do that –“_

_“If!”, Sergio interrupted him with a warning look on his face. “_If_ we _did_ that!”_

_Palermo smirked. “If we did that…”, he paused to look for Sergio’s approval but the professor just sighed. “… the walls would explode, the mechanism of the vault would go off and the water would quickly fill the basement of the bank.” _

_Palermo finally moved away the walls of the vault and the water flooded the remaining rooms which left the playmobil figures floating upside down. Sergio shook his head. Palermo giggled like a child._

Raquel picked up the device that would trigger the explosion. Behind the walls she could definitely hear voices. The hostages were in there. Most of them at least. Where was the gang? If that trigger was lying here on the floor something had gone terribly wrong. Raquel took it and made her way through the basement, when she registered a voice via the earpiece.

“Troop one reporting: The robbers must be in the rear part of the building. We’ve detected voices on the first floor. We require reinforcement here.”

Raquel increased her pace when Suárez’ voice came from the headphones. “The paths are blocked. We’re working on it.”

Luckily Raquel knew every inch of this bank. She sent a telepathic _thank you_ to Sergio, who had made her study that plan extensively, as she took a shortcut and headed upstairs to the first floor. She registered loud voices not far from her position and made once again sure her newly acquired gun was loaded. The noise came from one of the offices.

“Freeze!”, she heard a person scream. “You’re surrounded. Guns on the floor, hands where we can see them.”

One moment later Raquel burst into the room. In the second it took her to adjust to the situation she pointed her pistol in the same direction that the other police men were aiming her weapons at. As for now she still looked like a normal member of the task force, no one would question her presence. With her helmet on and her gun raised they would think she was part of the reinforcement. She quickly asserted the circumstances. Palermo and Helsinki stood in the middle of the room. They wore police uniforms but Raquel could see that they had been caught by surprise by the operation teams as they weren’t fully equipped yet. They had both pulled out two pistols and pointed them at their attackers. But they were outnumbered. It was five to two.

“Guns on the floor or we shoot.”, shouted the leader of the task force.

Palermo laughed. “I wished life was that easy.”, he said while quickly aiming a shot at the ceiling. The circle around the two tightened. Palermo and Helsinki exchanged one quick glance. They were going to lose and they knew it.

It was now or never. If Raquel didn’t do anything now she would either die or go back to prison. The only way she could ensure that Paula and Marívi were fine was if she or at least the others escaped. She had to take that chance.

Raquel pulled off her helmet, thus revealing herself to everyone in the room.

“Don’t move”, she shouted, the gun raised in her right hand, the trigger visible in her left hand.

A few of the police men pointed their gun at her but there was a general uncertainty about what was happening right know. Palermo and Helsinki looked like they had seen a ghost.

“If you shoot them, or me, I am going to press this button”, she held the trigger device in the air, her index finger on the red button. “When I do that, the explosives we have attached to the vault in the basement will go off. The walls will explode and with them all the hostages we have locked into that room.” No one was moving. “They will never see the light of day again.” Raquel took a deep breath. “I don’t think you want to take that risk.”

She felt her heart beat against her chest and adrenaline was rushing through her entire body. At the same time, she noticed that her plan was working. The police men seemed to wait for an order from their leader. For a few seconds everything was quiet.

Then Palermo fired his gun.

But he wasn’t the only one who fired. Estocolmo and Denver had quietly entered the room and with that first shot, hell broke lose. Raquel’s instincts made her get out of the shooting line. Now there were bullets flying all across the room. The police had gone into the defensive, mostly working with their shields. They were only able to fire a bullet every few seconds. Palermo had already knocked out two police men and Raquel grabbed their shields, distributing them to the others. They were slowly encircling the remaining three. Raquel quietly prayed that the other troops hadn’t yet found their way to this part of the building. Otherwise they were screwed. She managed to aim a shot at the feet of a police woman who went down in pain.

“Where are the others?”, Raquel shouted over the noise of gun shots. “We have to hurry, the other police troops are coming.”

“I don’t know”, Palermo replied while blindly firing towards the remaining police men. “You guys go find them and prepare the escape. Helsinki and I will finish these off and follow you.”

“Alright!”

Together with Estocolmo and Denver she slowly retreated. Raquel could see thousands of question marks in their faces but there was no time to explain.

“Come on”, Denver shouted when they arrived in the hallway. He fixed explosives at the corridor that was connecting them to the part of the building that the other troops were in. “Let’s blow up these walls and keep them out for good.”

But he was too late. Suddenly, several bullets came out of nowhere and flew right beside their faces.

“Get down”, screamed Estocolmo.

All of a sudden, Raquel felt a sharp pain in her left thigh but before she could register what had happened, the earth began to shake. Denver had set off the explosion and the walls around them were beginning to break in. They all fell to the ground. They had been too close to the explosion. Soon they’d be buried by stones.

“Run”, he screamed.

Raquel put all her strength together to pick herself up and ran down the corridor behind Denver and Estocolmo but she couldn’t keep up with their pace. Both of them had already reached the staircase but Raquel’s body slowed down and she couldn’t ignore the pain in her leg any longer. In a desperate attempt to save herself, Raquel dived through the last door on the corridor. She barely escaped the effects of that last explosion Denver had set off.

Inside Raquel went to the ground immediately. The room she found herself in was another office with two doors, the other one connecting to the second part of the building. That’s where Raquel had to go through. But she couldn’t move. She was barely able to catch her breath. With a shock, she realized that the floor beneath her was covered with blood. Her blood. She had been shot where the bulletproof vest didn’t protect her anymore. Raquel cursed and desperately tried to assess the wound in her thigh. But it hurt too much. She tried to suppress her instinct to scream in pain and pressed her hand on the wound. Never in her life had she felt a sensation as torturous as this. She couldn’t blame Denver and Estocolmo for running for their lives but without any help Raquel wouldn’t make it out of here. She had no idea how bad this wound was but the fact that she wasn’t able to move right now, wasn’t exactly a good sign. Raquel tried to crawl towards the door on the opposite wall when she registered footsteps behind her.


	10. Close Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have a date! Part 4 is coming to Netflix on 3rd of April. Still such a long wait but I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime! Please let me know what you think :)

There was no time for Raquel to hide, let alone leave the room. The pain in her leg immobilized her entire body so much that she could barely turn her head towards the door before it burst open with a loud bang. Holding a gun in both hands, his eyes vigilantly opened, Suárez entered the room. His reflexes made him react fast and for the second time in less than twenty-four hours Raquel found herself being held at gunshot by her former colleague. In a half-hearted attempt to fight Raquel grabbed the gun that had been lying on the floor next to her realizing midway there was no point in doing so. Her whole body was trembling and the weapon slid from her hand as she tried to aim it at her opponent. Never in her life had she experienced this sort of helplessness. Suárez came nearer and Raquel tried one last time to push herself up in order to run but all it did was send another wave of pain through her body and Raquel groaned in agony, praying that she didn’t black out. Suddenly, she heard Suárez cursing. The next second he had lowered his gun and kneeled down beside her.

“I told you not to pull stunts”, he growled while his eyes flickered from Raquel’s face to the wound in her leg.

For a moment, Raquel was taken aback.

“What did you expect?”, she then countered under effort. “That I just watch while you shoot my people?”

Pressing his hands onto Raquel’s wound, Suárez made an angry noise. “Your people? You were one of us once, remember?”

Raquel didn’t know how to respond to that. In fact, she didn’t know how to respond to any of this. Was this a sudden change of heart? Had he pity with her? Or did he just not want to see anybody die? He was clearly still resenting her for betraying the police.

As Suárez was asserting the wound on Raquel’s thigh the thoughts in her head swirled around in the manner of a tornado.

“Why are you helping me?”

Suárez didn’t reply. Instead he ripped off a piece of fabric from his uniform. “We have to stop the blood from flowing out the wound”, he said, his eyes fully fixed on the spot where the bullet had struck. He took the ripped strip of fabric and tied it around Raquel’s leg, right above the gun shot wound. Raquel only felt a tingling in her leg and sensed a feeling of nausea creeping up. The surroundings suddenly felt very distant.

“Hey, are you still with me?”

A light slap on her cheek made Raquel open her eyes again. She had nearly drifted off. Her eyes flickered across the room and made a halt at Suárez’ face.

“Yes”, was the weak response she could manage.

Suárez nodded and turned back to the wound with methodical patience.

“We have to get the bullet out of your leg”, he stated. “But it seems to be stuck too far within.”

Raquel couldn’t see what he was doing but a sudden pressure on the spot made her squirm in pain. Tears were running down her face. Suárez looked up from the wound in concern.

“Are you alright? Can you sit?”, he asked and helped Raquel to lean against the nearest chair.

Raquel had to breath through the tears a few times in order to calm down a bit and relieve herself from the pain.

“What about the rest of the troops?” She nodded towards the doors. “They’re going to burst in here any second.”

“No, they’re not”, said Suárez. “The explosion blocked the entire way here. I was the last person to get through.” He checked the improvised compression bandage once more, before turning away from the wound. “A doctor has to remove the bullet. Until then you have to endure. Can you do that?”, he asked.

Raquel nodded hesitantly.

“Why are you helping me?”, she asked again. The words only came out under effort but she needed to know. “Wasn’t the plan to get rid of me while we’re in this bank?”

Suárez paused for the first time, his expression was grim.

“Yeah”, he sighed and hoisted himself up to a standing position. “That pregnant lunatic out there has nothing better to do than to play chess with other peoples lives but I don’t like that one bit.”

Raquel looked up in surprise. In Suárez’ position in the GEO it had never been his job to form personal opinions. He was supposed to take orders and follow them and that was what he usually did with excellence. The look on his face revealed that he himself was taken by surprise by his actions. He never acted out of protocol.

Before Raquel could reply, the earpiece that had stayed quiet for the past few minutes made some distorted sounds. Then there was Alicia’s voice.

“Suárez, are you there? Troop one isn’t reporting to us any more. We need to know what’s going on inside.”

Suárez hesitated and looked to Raquel. She shook her head. For a moment their eyes locked. Suárez cursed. He didn’t know what to do. Raquel could empathize with his quandary. Reporting back to Sierra might be essential for detaining the robbers but her reckless orders might put even more people in danger. Raquel nervously shifted her position on the floor, the pain was now a constant pounding in her thigh. Again, she shook her head.

“Suárez, please”, she tried.

He insistently stared into space and a crease was emerging on his forehead, which didn’t really give away what he was thinking in this very moment.

“Fuck”, he finally exclaimed. Raquel lifted her eyebrows in an asking manner. Then, he grabbed his speaking device but before he could say anything someone else burst into the room. Suárez immediately held up his gun. It was Tokyo.

Seeing Suárez pointing the pistol at her, Tokyo rapidly drew out her own gun. She seemed to be taken by surprise but that did not diminish her fiery reaction. As always, Tokyo was a bundle of radical energy.

Now the two of them were holding each other at gunpoint. Raquel panicked.

“Don’t shoot!”, she shouted in terror.

Tokyo’s gaze moved to the spot where Raquel was sitting and her eyes widened in shock. She hadn’t noticed her when she came in and judging from her reaction she hadn’t known Raquel was still alive until now. For a moment Tokyo’s determination faltered.

“What the fucking hell?”, she exclaimed.

In the splinter of a second Tokyo changed her mind and directed her gun at Raquel who couldn’t do more than to raise her arms. Her gun was lying out of reach. Besides, who would she want to shoot?

“Tokyo, don’t shoot!”, Raquel shouted again.

Tokyo had now realised that Raquel was incapacitated and aimed at Suárez again. Neither of them fired though. It was one-on-one, the risk of getting shot themselves was too big.

“Put down the gun!”, ordered Suárez.

“Or what?”, Tokyo bit in her usual spiteful manner. She was not letting herself be beaten so close to the escape. No, she was full of determination. Sierra’s voice that was now somewhat permanently coming from the earpiece had already become background noise. She was not getting any responds.

Tokyo’s gaze flickered back to the injured Raquel on the floor.

“What is this?”, she asked in a challenging tone. “You teamed up with the police again?”

“No, they - “

“You fucking traitor!”, Tokyo screamed. “The professor should have listened to me. You were never really on our side.”

“Tokyo!”, Raquel responded in panic, desperately trying to get the woman to listen to her. “They faked my death and made me join them in here. I didn’t have a choice!”

“Give me one good reason not to shoot you!”, Tokyo demanded. She was clearly not believing Raquel.

At this point, Suárez chimed in again. “If you shoot her, I’ll shot you.”

“No one is shooting anyone”, came a voice from outside the door and one second later, Palermo entered the room, his finger, of course, held on the trigger of his gun. Helsinki came in closely behind Palermo. As Suárez was now kept in check by the two of them, Tokyo pointed her gun at Raquel again while taking slow and steady steps towards her. The two women stared at each other. Raquel looked at Tokyo in utter disbelief. Was this seriously how things would end?

“Tokyo, please… don’t make this mistake”, Raquel begged but she only got a disbelieving grunt in response.

Thankfully Palermo quickly realized what happened. “Tokyo, put down the gun”, he hissed. “Lisboa is on our side. She helped us to get rid of the cops back there. She saved us.”

Tokyo didn’t seem convinced. Her face was marked by rage and hatred. Helsinki stepped beside her and calmly put his hand over hers.

“Tokyo, don’t”, he said. “We leave now.”

Something in his dark and raspy voice made Tokyo pull her gaze away from Raquel. Helsinki nodded to her and she finally put down the gun. Raquel breathed out in relief.

That feeling didn’t last for long. Suárez who had been kept in check by Palermo was now the only target in the room. The other three simultaneously raised their guns at him.

“Don’t shoot him!”, exclaimed Raquel. “Please!”

“Wasn’t going to”, answered Palermo with a smirk in his face while pulling a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket. “Move!”, he said to Suárez. “Over there”

Suárez considered the situation for a moment but lay down his gun immediately. He had no choice but to comply. Palermo navigated him across the room and handcuffed him to the base of an ornate fireplace in a quick movement. Meanwhile Helsinki had come to Raquel’s aid and helped her up. The pain was still omnipresent but if she put all of her strength together she would somehow manage to get out of here. She wouldn’t stay, that was for sure.

In the distance there seemed to be another explosion, then they heard fast footsteps approaching. Tokyo pointed her gun at the door but through it came Rio and she immediately put down the weapon.

“We have to go!”, Rio screamed. “They’re coming closer. And the front part of the building is standing in flames.” He was out of breath, but noticing Raquel he froze. He probably hadn’t realized at all what had been happening. But there was no time for that now.

“Go, go, go!”, shouted Palermo who had just finished handcuffing Suárez to the fireplace.

They made their way out through the second door that was connecting to the rear part of the building. Raquel, with Helsinki supporting her, was the last to leave the room. Before crossing the threshold, she turned her head towards Suárez and the two of them exchanged one last glance. The look on his face was indecipherable. _I’m sorry, _thought Raquel. Then they moved on.

They made their way through the labyrinth that was the bank of Spain. Raquel tried not to slow the others down with her injury but she noticed she was getting slower and slower. Just a few more metres, she told herself with every corner they passed. Suddenly the earpiece she was still wearing made a noise again. _Fuck_, Raquel thought. In the hurry, they had forgotten to take Suárez’ communication device away. The next moment she heard his voice.

“Sierra?”

Raquel’s heart beat like hell. He would request support and they’d get caught after all, just because of a careless mistake.

“Yes, Suárez?”

There was a short pause. “Abort operation”, he said.

“What is happening?”

“We’re outmatched. The robbers are escaping. They are blocking the way behind them with explosives. I don’t know what their plan is. There’s fire in the hallways.”

"Where are the other troops?”

“I don't know. I am trapped in the first floor. There’s no connection to the others. Several men got shot. You need to bring in a rescue team, save the hostages before the fire spreads.”

Raquel thought she could hear a discontented sound.

“What about Murillo?”

Raquel’s heart stopped for a second. There was a short silence.

“She is dead. She was too close to the explosions. The whole environment caught fire.”

There was no response at first. Then Tamayo’s voice.

“All troops: Abort operation. Get your men together. Anyone who can leaves the building. We’re going to send in a rescue unit.”

Had this really just happened? Raquel and the others were still making their way through the bank, though the rest of the gang was completely oblivious to what she had just witnessed. Raquel was overwhelmed with relief that Suárez decided to abort the operation and concentrate on saving the hostages. She knew she would have done the same had it been her call but if Sierra had known they were still close, she probably would have taken any risk to catch them.

Raquel would never know what Suárez had wanted to tell Sierra before Tokyo came in, whether he would have busted her out or kept his mouth shut. But this last decision ensured that they wouldn’t look for her any more. She was officially dead now.


	11. Leaving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally ... here's chapter number 11! Sorry for always taking so long. I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter, as always, please, let me know what you think!

_“But Professor”, said Nairobi. “How are we actually going to get out of the bank?”_

_“The same way we’re getting in”, Sergio smirked. “We expect total chaos. Explosions, falling walls, fires even. There’s going to be so much turmoil and with Marseille using the frequency blockers, communication within the police forces is going to be difficult. They won’t be able to follow protocol.”_

_“So we’re just going to walk straight out of there or what?”, asked Denver._

_“Well, almost. You’re going to take their cars. They will have parked them in front of the bank. Distract them with explosions and smoke outside the bank and everyone will think you’re simply quitting the operation and saving yourselves. That’s your legitimation. Your way out. No one will question you as long as you wear your uniforms.”_

_There was a short silence in the room._

_“This is never going to work”, Tokyo finally said._

_Sergio simply looked at her. “You’re just going to have to trust me then.”_

Escaping. The was a part of the plan that Raquel had really been worried about. She hadn’t found Sergio’s solution for fleeing the bank efficient enough. There was so much that could go wrong. This time there was no secret underground passage, no hangar, no silent get-away option. This time they were escaping out in the open, in front of everyone. Which was risky as hell. But if it worked, it would also be brilliant as hell. Whilst Raquel had been concerned about this part of the plan, she hadn’t calculated with taking an active part in it. Now she found herself right in the middle of it.

After Raquel had listened to the police communicating they arrived in front of one of the entrances where they met Bogotá who had already prepared the smoke bombs as a distraction. As planned, there were several bags of gold that the hostages had carried at the door.

Raquel had trouble breathing. It took everything she had not to let herself drop down to the floor. She grasped Helsinki’s arm for more hold.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You alright?”

She nodded. She had to endure. Just a little bit longer. The gang had paused for a moment, somehow everyone was looking to her now. She took a deep breath.

“Let’s do this. They’re aborting the operation. Now is our best chance.”

She nodded to Palermo.

“Go”, Palermo ordered and everyone set in motion again, putting their helmets on. Bogotá opened the doors that led outside and threw the smoke bombs out in a quick movement. When they heard the bombs go off everyone rushed outside.

They were lucky. At this time of the year it was already dark outside which was a big advantage. Bogotá and Denver had located two vehicles in an instant and set about hotwiring them immediately. The rest of them were carrying as many bags filled with gold as they could. The remaining gold was situated on the roof, waiting to be lifted into the air by a remote-controlled air balloon. It would cause another distraction and if the police decided to shoot the balloon it would rain small drops of gold. One last symbol of resistance for the people. It had never been about the gold anyways. Raquel saw Palermo communicating via the walkie-talkie and knew he had given Marseille the green light to let the air balloon fly.

She could hear the crowd chanting behind the walls of smoke that were shielding them from the looks of the police force. The cold evening air sent adrenaline through every fibre of her body. This was extraordinary. Being here at the very site of the crime scene was breath-taking, completely and utterly different to sitting in a van and giving the orders. She suddenly felt… so alive. The moment passed when Denver let out a triumphant noise. Thankfully, both he and Bogotá were extremely skilled what concerned hijacking cars and everyone hurried off to get into the vehicles. Raquel had tried to pay attention to any further orders coming through the ear piece but there was nothing. So when the cars were loaded and everyone was inside, they just drove off, praying to every god they knew that this crazy plan would work and they’d finally get out of here.

Behind the walls of smoke, there was total chaos. The crowd seemed to have grown in the past few hours. They were still awake, still shouting, still fighting. The police forces were completely occupied. Which was probably one of the reasons that the few that were guarding the passages through the crowds made way for the two vehicles approaching them immediately.

Raquel couldn’t believe her eyes. They might actually get out of here. Her heart was pounding far too fast and she realized how tense everybody else was. Beside her, Mónica was twiddling her fingers in a nervous manner. There was nothing they could do besides waiting out the drive through the crowds. Soon the masses of people on the streets started to fade and Bogotá sped up the car.

“Not too fast”, whispered Palermo who had taken the passenger seat in front. “Don’t draw attention to ourselves.”

The drive was agony. Just when Raquel thought she wouldn’t possibly endure any longer, the crowds disappeared and the road was completely free. They drove faster, Denver and the rest of the gang in the car closely behind them. Nobody dared to say anything, but there was no one stopping them. No further road blocks, no further police forces. Everybody was still in that bank.

Now the rest was a simple matter of being at the right place at the right time.

Bogotá confidently navigated the car through the streets of Madrid towards their next stop. In the hangar where the others had waited for the heist to begin, Marseille was waiting for them with a big truck that was advertising for a Spanish hot chocolate brand. Driving in the police cars for too long would draw attention to them, they needed to switch vehicles soon.

Loading the truck went about fast and efficient. No one was talking, the tension was simply too big. In a lucid moment Raquel realized she might have been implemented a microphone or a GPS tracker while being unconscious. She thought the possibility was unlikely and knew that if that was the case they’d probably have already been arrested but to be sure she made Rio check with the metal detector. Nothing. Thankfully, for once Sierra hadn’t thought through every possibility.

Because Marseille was the only one who wasn’t being searched by the police and stood in no connection to the others, he would be the one navigating the truck. The rest of them took their places in the back of the vehicle. Only when Marseille announced that they had left the greater part of Madrid and were headed towards the south coast everyone dared to relax a bit.

Raquel asserted the gang member’s faces. She had noticed someone was missing right from moment they had met with Bogotá at the exit of the bank.

“Where’s Nairobi?”, she asked into the silence, knowing she didn’t want to hear the answer.

Helsinki quietly turned away from the gazes of the others and buried his face in the palms of his hands. Raquel’s heart sunk.

“The police shot her.” Tokyo’s voice sounded flat. “She’s dead.”

Raquel closed her eyes and thrust her head against the vehicle’s wall. Wild rage burst from her insides. Nairobi didn’t deserve this. No one deserved any of the cold-hearted actions that were executed by the police within the corrupt system they lived in. And even while still being part of one of the biggest resistance acts of history, Raquel felt helpless. When would it be enough? Would it ever be?

They were on their way out of Spain, they had made it out of the bank, they had won this part of the battle. But it didn’t feel like a victory. As Raquel looked around the truck and saw the expressions in each of her associate’s faces she knew they felt the same way. They had gotten Rio back. But there was a bitter aftertaste to the mission.

As the adrenaline from the escape faded, Raquel became aware of her gun shot wound again. She clutched her upper leg in pain.

“We need to take care of that immediately”, said Mónica while wiping away a tear from her cheek.

“I think the bullet has to be removed”, Raquel said.

Helsinki who had the best medical experience shuffled over to her in order to inspect the wound.

“I can’t remove the bullet while we’re driving”, he concluded. “Too rocky. Can you hold on until we’re at the port?”

Raquel nodded. She was almost sure she could endure for the next few hours. She would have to.

“What happened to you?”, Palermo finally asked. “We thought you were dead.”

Raquel took a deep breath. Then she told them everything about the unsuccessful escape in the woods and her arrest. How Sierra managed to make Sergio think she was dead and how she interrogated her in Madrid.

“After Sergio’s speech on national television they decided to go in and made me join them for everyone to see.”

“Why did you do it?”, Tokyo asked, but it didn’t sound accusatory this time.

Raquel swallowed.

“They found my mother and my daughter”, she answered quietly. Panic started to rise in her chest and her voice became hoarse as she continued. “I don’t know what they’re going to do to them now that I escaped”, she voiced her fear.

While the others exchanged helpless glances, Mónica shuffled nearer to Raquel and hugged her as much as the restricting space in the truck would allow her to. As a reaction to that sudden affection Raquel finally let the tears flow down her cheeks.

“It’s going to be alright. We’re going to get them home”, Mónica tried to comfort Raquel. But she couldn’t be sure herself. Those were empty words.

“I feel like I’ve failed them”, Raquel sobbed quietly. “They had nothing to do with this and I … I … I don’t know what they’re going to do to them. I don’t even know where they are. Whatever happens now … it’s my fault.”

Mónica shifted uncomfortably beside her. She had also left a child behind. She understood. She knew the dilemma.

“Never say that”, she finally said. “It’s their fault for committing those cruel crimes in the first place. You just did what you thought was the right thing. You would never have left Rio to rot in that cell, I know that. Just like we all wouldn’t have simply let that happen either. We all knew we needed to help. Sometimes you just have to do the next right thing.” She paused. “And I am sure Nairobi would agree too.”

“Yeah”, Denver said, he was unusually quiet. “And if you hadn’t helped us out back in the bank, who knows who else wouldn’t have made it out in time. Besides, what use would it bring to anyone if you were in prison right now?”

Raquel listened attentively to their words. They were right. What she had done was the only possible thing to do, there was no doubt to it. She’d do it again anytime.

“We’re going to get them”, Mónica pressed Raquel’s hand reassuringly.

“Thank you”, she responded quietly.

“I am going to check in with the Professor”, Palermo said, drawing his walkie-talkie. “Professor, we’re in the truck. Plan Palawan is executed as planed.”

There was no response.

“Professor?”, Palermo called again.

Everyone looked around in unease.

“Sergio, are you there?”

Nothing.

“When was the last time you spoke to him?”, Raquel asked, getting nervous again. What if he had been arrested?

“Just after his speech went on air”, Palermo said and sighed. “He didn’t sound good, Lisboa. He wasn’t in control of himself.”

What if he hadn’t found out she was still alive? Would he leave the gang out of grief?

“Let’s try again in half an hour or so”, Denver said. “Maybe he’s just on his way to the port.”

Palermo nodded and everyone stayed quiet. There was nothing they could do until then anyways. But neither of them had a good feeling about this.

Several hours later they arrived at the port. Palermo had tried several times to contact Sergio but without success. Raquel and the others had grown more restless as the hours had past. They didn’t depend on Sergio for the last part of escaping but this hadn’t solely been a business relationship for a long time now. They were family and one member was missing.

At the port, Sergio’s associate was already waiting for them, Marseille had contacted her during the drive from Madrid. She was trustworthy and the huge amount of money they paid her assured that she would keep quiet. Sergio, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Whilst Raquel had become more nervous by the hour, Palermo had become angry. He feared Sergio was running out on them.

“I give him the exact time we need to load this fucking ship. Then we leave”, he decided.

Raquel’s heart sunk at the thought of leaving without Sergio. They might not have a different choice though. The police were probably already hard on their heels, the last thing she needed was to be arrested again. Or worse, get the whole gang arrested as well.

While the others prepared the ship, Helsinki took out the first aid kit and set about removing the bullet from Raquel’s leg. In the meanwhile, Raquel tried contacting Sergio with the walkie-talkie, hoping her voice would somehow magically draw him to her. As before, there was no response. She sighed and her train of thought was cut off because the pain in her thigh was just excruciating. Helsinki gave her an apologetic look but it wasn’t his fault. There hadn’t been enough time for the pain killers to kick in. According to him Raquel had been lucky. The bullet had been considerably easy to remove and hadn’t caused much damage, as far as he could tell. Now, it was important that the wound wouldn’t get infected. Helsinki wrapped up the spot with a bandage and lightly patted her leg.

“All done”, he said and gave her one of his rare smiles. She could see that he tried to keep up a positive attitude. His eyes however bore sadness.

“Alright”, Palermo announced as everyone was gathered inside the ship. “We’re leaving now. There is no excuse to stay any longer.”

Raquel shook her head. They couldn’t just leave now. Not yet.

“Give him more time”, she demanded, struggling to get up from the chair she had been sitting on.

Palermo turned to face her. “He won’t show, Lisboa. He hasn’t responded by now, any minute we wait longer will only endanger us more and minimize our chances of fleeing the country.” His upper lip trembled and Raquel knew this decision wasn’t easy for him as well. But she couldn’t let go just yet.

“Fifteen minutes”, she demanded. “Give him fifteen more minutes”, and something in her voice seemed to stop Palermo from objecting because he simply stayed still and sat down on a chair. The rest of them were quiet and no one stopped her as Raquel left for the upper deck to go outside.

Raquel hobbled from the ship and stumbled onto the uneven concrete. The place in front of the ship was deserted. Sergio’s associate had left and everything seemed still. She inhaled the cold night air and laid her eyes into the distance. Even if Sergio was coming she wouldn’t be able to spot him in the darkness of the night. She knew, Palermo was right. There was no point in staying any longer. But could she just leave without him? Had he been arrested? What if he still turned up? And what if, worse, he didn’t and was in danger at this very moment? Should she stay and search for him? But where would she start?

A voice from behind her filled the void of the night.

“Raquel!”

She startled and almost lost balance. She hadn’t realized someone was there but recognized the voice almost immediately. She turned around to see her assumption confirmed. It was Ángel.

Raquel took a step back. Was he friend or enemy? She looked around in panic, expecting bullets flying towards her any second.

“Relax”, he said. “I’m alone.”

Raquel was dumbstruck for a second.

“You’re alive”, he breathed out with relief in his voice. “I was told you were … “

Only now Raquel noticed his swollen eyes.

“I know”, she whispered. “I might be if it hadn’t been for Suárez. He … made sure I was alright.”

“Thank god”, Ángel let out and before Raquel knew it he had wrapped her tightly into his arms. She hugged him back instinctively. Ángel had been her friend and colleagues for years and years after all.

“How did you find us?”, she asked and let go of him slowly.

“Don’t worry, no one knows I’m here”, Ángel said. “After you were arrested, I was on the search for the professor. But I only found his vacated van not far from here.”

Raquel’s eyes widened. Their back-up van.

“He left some maps that led me to believe you were fleeing by ship again. This was the nearest port I found.”

“So Sergio hasn’t been arrested?”, Raquel asked nervously.

Ángel paused for a second. “He isn’t with you?”

Raquel bit her lip and shook her head. Her eyes were beginning to tear up again. Where was he?

“I’m sorry, Raquel. I don’t know where he is. I thought he was here with the rest of you.”

Ángel’s puzzled face revealed that he was telling the truth. She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. What should she do now?

“What are you even doing here when you thought I was dead?”, she realized.

“I needed to find the professor”, Ángel replied. He fumbled in his pocket and drew out a small piece of paper. “I wanted to give him the location of Paula und your mother so he could get them. A former colleague of mine who works in Thailand at the moment sent me the address.”

Raquel’s eyes widened as she took the piece of paper from Ángel’s hands.

“They’re safe?”, she asked.

“Did you think I was going to let anything happen to Paulita? I love that kid”, Ángel chuckled. “Yes, they’re safe. When I found out they had both your mother and Paula I made a few calls to make sure they’d be alright.”

Big drops of tears fell down Raquel’s cheeks.

“Thank you”, she sobbed and embraced him in a tight hug.

“Of course”, Ángel mumbled into her hair.

They simply stood there for a while, hugging each other, both absorbed in the memories of the lives they had lived only a few years ago. It felt like an eternity away now.

“What made you change your mind?”, Raquel asked as she finally let go of him.

Ángel hesitated.

“What they did to you back there …”, he finally said. “… it was just …I mean … who in their right mind would do that?”, he exclaimed. “And then using your mother and your daughter to bribe you… I can’t support that. Don’t get me wrong. I can’t approve of what you’re doing.”

Raquel swallowed.

“But I get why you’re doing it. I understand that it’s more complicated then good against bad. I’m not on your side. But I can’t take theirs either.”

Raquel nodded. She understood. This revelation was more than she had ever expected from Ángel.

She stared into the darkness of the night.

“I have to look for him”, she finally said. She was determined. If Sergio was somewhere out there, she needed to find him and take him home.

“Raquel, no!”, Ángel said and stepped in her way. “I won’t let you.”

“Why not?”

Ángel grabbed her arm. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Let me go!”, Raquel demanded and tried to shake off his hands. But he only held her arms more firmly. Tears of anger crept into Raquel’s eyes as she struggled to get free of his grip. She didn’t care how desperate she seemed right now. Why couldn’t he understand?

“This is a suicide mission”, Ángel said angrily. “Do you know what’s going on at this very moment? They’re searching the whole country for the gang! They will find you in no time if you don’t leave now. And you can barely stand, by the looks of it.”

Raquel didn’t want to hear any of this. She knew it was a desperate move but the alternative, leaving, felt like a betrayal. Like giving up on him. Her face was marked by struggle as Ángel tried to get her to hold still and made her look into his eyes.

“Raquel”, he said urgently. “You have to leave now. I can’t help you here. Leave the country, recover from your wounds. Get Paula and Mariví. And never return.”

Paula and Mariví. The sound of their names brought clarity into Raquel’s thoughts. She stopped struggling and let her arms sink, stunned. He was right. She would be no use rotting away in a prison cell where she wouldn’t be able to save Sergio. She had no idea where he was right now. It was the only plausible decision to go on that ship. Realizing that felt like someone was punching her in the gut all over again. Over and over again.

Ángel cupped her face with both his hands and wiped away the tears that just kept on coming. He didn’t say anything more. As she tried to calm down Raquel tried to focus on Ángel’s face.

“Your hair has gotten grey”, she said eventually. It was a silly attempt to lighten the mood.

He chuckled. “And I blame you for it entirely.”

A light smile escaped her lips.

Ángel let go of her and reached for something in his pocket again.

“I found this in the van”, he said and pulled out a red origami bird. “Here, take it with you.”

Raquel carefully took the filigree paper animal that she had seen so many times in so many different variations.

“Thank you”, she whispered.

They embraced each other again, this time for what they both knew would be the last time, until Raquel stepped away, making her way back to the ship.

When she entered the ship’s hold the others lifted their heads in anticipation.

“Let’s go”, she said without looking at anyone in particular. “We’re leaving now.”

No one objected. And so they set sail.


	12. Por la familia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We can finally say it now: Part 4 of LCDP will come to Netflix THIS (!) year! 
> 
> Happy new year to everyone, I hope you have an amazing 2020!

Two days they spent on the ship. Their route led them southwards to Morocco’s west coast. They weren’t headed to Casablanca this time but to a remote village further down the coast. Shortly after setting sail Raquel realized the last few hours had really taken their toll on her. Once she laid down on her mattress she didn’t get up for two days, if only for using the toilet. As much as she was worrying about Sergio, she was completely knocked out. The others tried to coddle her up, gave her as much water to drink as possible and attempted to get her to eat something. To Raquel it was all a blur. Deep inside she wished she could be stronger right now, for them but also to reflect on what she was going to do next. But then the pain came back and the drugs send her into streams of unconsciousness again.

Sergio had bought a house along the Moroccan coast a long time ago. Because there were no people living in the nearer environment, it was ideal for being occupied by nine resistance fighters on the run. They arrived in the middle of the night, silently stored the gold in the house and fell into their beds. The events of the last days had exhausted everyone after all.

The next morning was the first time Raquel felt like she could grasp a clear thought again. With regaining consciousness however, came the pain. Having to leave Sergio behind in Spain was possibly the most difficult decision Raquel had ever had to make. Even worse were the _what if’_s that were constantly floating through her head as a consequence. What if he had turned up right after they left? What if he’d been captured? What if he was… Raquel didn’t even dare to think about that last possibility. Just the thought of it hurt too much.

When all of them were awake, Raquel asked them to gather in the living room. They had escaped but the flight wasn’t fully accomplished yet. If they didn’t carry on, they would be found here eventually. Morocco was still far too close to Spain.

She carefully made her way to the downstairs of the old yet spacious house where Rio and Denver were preparing breakfast. Breakfast. What a silly thing to do in the face of everything that had happened in the past days. Maybe it was the most essential thing to do right now though, thought Raquel, as she slid onto one of the chairs at the half-set table and clutched her side in pain. She tried to supress a groan. Although she hadn’t thought her ribs were broken Alberto had still managed to leave a proper souvenir.

At this moment, Mónica came into the room.

“Good morning”, she said and gave Raquel a light smile. “How are you feeling?”

Raquel only half-heartedly managed to return the look.

“Better, thanks”, she said evasively, feeling like she had already put too much of her issues on Mónica and the others. “How are you doing?”

Mónica waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m alright”, she said as she sat down next to Raquel. “I just needed a long night’s sleep. I was lucky.”

Their glances crossed for a second and the two women stayed silent, knowing they were both avoiding to talk about the more concerning topic. They had lost two gang members. How do you cope with that?

“Do you need anything for your bruises?”, Mónica went on. “I think I saw an ointment in the first-aid kit.”

Raquel nodded gratefully. “Thanks.”

Mónica opened her mouth to speak again, this time more hesitantly. “What happened to you anyways?”, she asked.

Raquel bit her lip. “Let’s just say my ex-husband decided to pay me a visit.”

Mónica’s eyes went wide. Raquel quickly averted her gaze. She didn’t feel like talking about it. Thankfully, Mónica seemed to realize that and didn’t ask any further.

While waiting for everyone to be seated, Raquel played around with the red origami bird Ángel had given her. The last thing she had that belonged to Sergio. On the table in front of her were several mobile phones and six pieces of paper, each containing different information on the further journey of each gang member. They would split up from here.

“From the _inspectora _to the _professora_”, said Rio kiddingly as he sat down. “I like that.”

No one replied but Tokyo very obviously rolled her eyes at him.

“What?”, he countered. “This is all completely new to me. I didn’t know the professor had a girlfriend.”

The way he pronounced the word _girlfriend _made Raquel think of a giggling third-grader who was making fun of a girl and a boy holding hands, not really knowing how to deal with adult topics like this. She sighed inwardly. Rio was still half a child after all. 

“What’s that?”, Rio asked, pointing to the origami bird in an attempt to change the subject.

Raquel hesitated. She hadn’t told the others about her encounter with Ángel yet. She had been concerned about their reactions. What would they say to her meeting with the enemy? She felt like she just couldn’t seem to shake off her police reputation, even if she wanted to. But Ángel had helped them in the end. That was what counted.

“It’s Sergio’s”, she replied and decided to tell them the truth. “We weren’t the only ones at that port two days ago.”

Raquel could see her words caused unease within the gang.

“What do you mean?”, asked Denver.

“Ángel Rúbio, my former sub-inspector…”, Raquel said, nervously watching the reactions of the others. “… he managed to track us down while looking for Sergio.”

Palermo cursed and got up from his chair. The rest of them looked confused.

“He came in peace and alone”, Raquel rushed to assure them, if only to calm down Palermo. “He told me where my daughter and my mother are. He made sure they’re alright.”

“It’s a trap”, Palermo said angrily. “You can’t go there. You’ll put us all in danger!”

“No”, Raquel insisted. “If it were a trap, he could have ratted us out back at the port. He didn’t. If he had told anyone that we were at that port we’d all be in prison right now.”

Palermo stayed still. He knew she had a point.

“Why would you still trust any of these pricks?” Now Tokyo was the one getting angry. “After all that they’ve done, even to you personally? They’re pure evil.”

“Not all of them are”, Raquel protested. She hesitated but then finally voiced what had been going through her mind during these past few hours. “We’re not that innocent either. We’ve left behind dead bodies this time.”

Everyone was silent. They knew she was right. It hadn’t been part of the plan to take lives. But it had always been a possibility. A risk everyone had been willing to take.

There was no going back now. But the bitter aftertaste stayed. 

Raquel continued. “According to Ángel, Sergio hasn’t been arrested. But he didn’t find him.”

“Are you sure we can trust him?”, asked Marseille.

Raquel nodded.

“But where could the professor be?”, Denver wondered.

“I don’t know. It’s too dangerous for us to go back right now and without any hint where to start or how to reach him…”, Raquel stopped there and took a deep breath. She needed to get this over with. “We’re continuing as planned. Palermo, would you please sit down so I can carry on?”

Palermo shook his head in discontent but complied. The others exchanges confused glances. Raquel tried to ignore their looks while pulling out the six papers in front of her.

“These documents contain the places your going to and the phone numbers of your carrier. Helsinki, Estocolmo and Denver: You can go back to your former homes. We have no reason to believe that Interpol knows you were there. Only the phone numbers have changed.”

They wordlessly took the documents. She carried on with the rest of the papers until there was only one left.

“Rio and Tokyo. You were supposed to go together.” The two of them eyed each other suspiciously. “I recommend you discuss which of you is going away as planned, the other might want to join someone else. Maybe Helsinki”, Raquel added thinking he’d be lonely now that Nairobi wouldn’t accompany him anymore.

“What about you?”, Mónica asked.

“I’ll wait for him here.”, said Raquel decidedly. “It’s our last chance to meet. We can’t go back to Palawan.”

Raquel exhaled. She had fulfilled all of her duties. She had given them the opportunity to leave this place, given them the documents that represented their way out of this country, far away from this continent. It was up to them now.

“We’ll wait with you.”, said Mónica and placed her hand on Raquel’s arm.

Raquel shook her head. “You have to go now. The longer you stay the more dangerous it will get.”

“No, we’re not leaving you here alone”, Mónica protested. “Right, Denver?”

Denver nodded in support.

„Mónica, you have a child.”, Raquel tried. “Go get Cinci. It’s more important. Actually, you all have to leave. Go back to your lives, there’s nothing you can do here.”

Palermo let out an angry sound. “Do you seriously think you’re the only one worrying about the professor?”, he burst out. “Do you seriously think we’re that superficial? Sergio’s my friend. And I’m not going to leave him behind because you think you need to carry on with the plan.”

Helsinki joined in. “I agree. I’m staying too.”

“Yeah, we owe it to the professor”, agreed Rio.

Raquel started to get angry. They were much better off going away to a safer place and happily living their lives, yet they decided to stay and jeopardize the plan. Raquel couldn’t just let them do that.

“Don’t you realize? If you stay and get caught you ruin everything he’s done for you. He sacrificed so much for you, for all of us.”

“All the more reason to stay and wait for him”, said Tokyo.

“No”, Raquel’s voice became louder. “You’re not helping him by waiting for him and getting caught. I won’t let that happen.” She distributed the mobile phones to each of them. “You’re going to call your carrier and you’re going to go home. Today.”

“Bullshit!”, Palermo loudly called out.

“This is not up for discussion”, Raquel shouted. Abruptly, everyone went silent. “That’s all”, Raquel said quietly and for the last time the class was dismissed.

Raquel went outside and sat on the terrace. Although there were nine people gathered back in that house, Raquel felt as alone and helpless as she hadn’t in a long time. Why didn’t they understand? None of them knew where Sergio was, none of them could help him right now. Waiting was simply foolish in the face of possibly being detained any second. Why did they have to jeopardize the plan Sergio had so carefully worked on for the last few weeks?

As Raquel consciously tried to adjust her breathing pattern, her heart rate began to take a steady rhythm again. She hadn’t been this angry for a long time. In fact, she hadn’t acted like this since she had quit her job at the police. When she had worked as a police officer she had always felt like she needed to prove herself, be ten times more persistent, do everything ten times faster, speak ten times louder in order to be heard and accepted. She didn’t like the person she had forced herself to become back then. And she didn’t like that she had acted exactly like that person only a few minutes ago. Not knowing where Sergio was, made her behave irrationally. And she needed to keep a clear mind right now in order to decide how to go on.

As Raquel watched the ocean, having calmed down a bit, she suddenly heard someone coming from inside the house. It was Tokyo.

“Can I sit with you?”

Why her? Why her of all people? What did she want? Raquel didn’t show her discontent and simply nodded to the chair next to hers. Tokyo joined her silently.

"I’m sorry.”

Raquel was confused. „What for?”, she said, maybe a bit to harshly.

"If it hadn’t been for my stupidity we would have never needed to get Rio out in the first place. I lost my beloved and now you’re missing yours.”

Raquel thought about that for a while. She realized, Tokyo had her issues too, she still blamed herself for what had happened. Raquel wasn’t the only one who was overwhelmed by their emotions. All of a sudden, her anger started to fade.

"That’s not how it works”, she finally said. „It could have gone differently. We could have all made it. Then you wouldn’t say sorry now.”

"It’s still my fault.”

"Yes. And no. You made a mistake. But we made the choice to help you. We knew what we were getting ourselves into. You know, we’re not stupid.”

Tokyo chuckled, but Raquel could see that she was crying. Of course. She had been close to Nairobi and Raquel knew she also had a soft spot for Sergio.

She didn’t know how to comfort her. They hadn’t exactly gotten along well, even during the past few weeks at the monastery. They had always kept their distance.

"I did you wrong”, said Tokyo. "Back in the bank. I saw you and I immediately thought you were betraying us.”

"The circumstances were unfortunate”, Raquel said.

"Yes, but I should have trusted you. I never have, to be honest. I know now that you’re truly on our side. I am sorry for not doing you justice.”

For the first time, Raquel looked at Tokyo. "Thanks”, she simply said.

They watched the ocean for a while. The sun had almost reached its highest point.

"You’re going to go and search for him, aren’t you?”, Tokyo said, now facing her. “You were never just planning to sit here and wait for him, am I right? That’s why you wanted us to leave.”

Raquel didn’t look up from the ocean.

"I’ll be damned if I don’t even try to find him.”

Tokyo nodded.

"I’m going to help you.”

Raquel paused for a second. She shook her head, opening her mouth to say something but Tokyo stopped her.

"You don’t have to do this alone, Lisboa. The gang is here. I’m sure all of them would help you.”

Raquel hesitated. She didn’t know if she wanted to get them involved. She couldn’t expect that from all of them. "I don’t ...”

Tokyo seemed to guess what she was thinking.

"The least you can do is ask. Like you said, it’ll be our choice. We’re not stupid, you know?”

Raquel smirked. She suddenly felt really foolish.

"I don’t even know where to start. I’ve got nothing.”

"Oh come on, don’t tell me the former head inspectora of Spain doesn’t know where to start searching for the person she probably knows best of all the people on this earth.”

Raquel exhaled. "I might need to make sure my mother and daughter are safe first.”

"I understand”, Tokyo said. "But I know you’ll come back for him. And when you do, don’t hesitate to ask for our help. We’re family after all.”

Suddenly, the anger was gone and Raquel felt really foolish. She had been so obsessed with completing Sergio’s plan that she hadn’t even stopped to consider their position. Everyone seemed to have accepted her as a full-fledged member of the gang, even Tokyo had now. She had been keeping them at a distance unnecessarily, all along she had been the one hesitating to fully become a part of the band. But they were family. They were there for each other, Raquel saw that now. And she would ask for their help. She would need it.

Raquel sighed. “Who knew, of the two of us, you would suddenly be the more rational one.”

Tokyo chuckled. “The others are still in the living room, if you want to talk”, she added and Raquel nodded before getting up and following her inside.

As Raquel entered the house everyone looked to her expectantly. She took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry for losing my temper”, she started. “I was so caught up in the emotions of leaving Sergio behind … I thought it would be the best to just pull through the plan and didn’t even take your situation into account. That was unfair to you. I’m sorry. Of course you can stay. I mean, if you want to”, she added.

Mónica was the first to get up and place her hand on Raquel’s shoulder.

“It’s alright. We know you’re just worried about him. We are too.”

“Thank you”, Raquel quietly said.

“We’re staying”, Helsinki announced. “As long as you need us to.”

Raquel's eyes began to water up.

“This was never for the gold”, Tokyo said, taking her place beside Mónica. “This was for the family. It still is.”

Palermo got up too. “And I will not leave this fucking place until we know how to get Sergio back”, he declaimed.

Everyone had gathered around her and before Raquel knew it several hands were reaching out to her in support and she found herself in the midst of what was probably the biggest group hug of resistance fighters on the run in the history of heists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I say anything else: I'm sorry for still leaving you in the dark about Sergio's well-being. I promise, I will make it up to you.  
I just felt the need of exploring the gang's relationships a little bit more and I hope you still enjoyed this chapter. I was originally meaning to post yesterday, when the chapter looked completely different! I feel like there's still so much we don't know when it comes to the time the gang has spent in the monastery and especially how everyone reacted to Raquel being in the group. So exploring this was fun, but also kind of difficult. I would love to know what you think, so please leave comment, I'd be extremely grateful :)


	13. Found

That night it was stormy outside. The whole house seemed to shake and shriek and Raquel constantly thought the roof would fall on their heads and leave them buried under ruins after all. The weather was a constant reminder of how dangerous it was to be outside for any of them right now and Raquel squirmed at the thought of Sergio being stranded somewhere in Spain. Exhaustion made her eyelids drop eventually.

When she woke the next morning she drowsily turned around in her bed, not wanting to commit to getting up just yet. Then, the events of the past days resurfaced and her heart skipped a beat. The thought of not knowing where Sergio was washed her drowsiness away immediately. But, contrary to only a few hours ago, Raquel felt determined now. She didn’t have to do this alone. The gang was with her. She got up as fast as her bruised ribs and injured leg would allow and hastily threw on some clothes – they couldn’t waste any more time now.

Downstairs, it was quiet but everyone was already occupied and silently taking care of tasks that had to be done. Raquel navigated towards Rio and Palermo who were leaning over a laptop at the kitchen’s dinner table. Last night, Helsinki had managed to conjure up a little hacking station out of nowhere, discretely and fast. Sometimes, Raquel was still astonished about how much people were willing to risk for a small sack of gold. But it served their needs so she wouldn’t dare to complain.

“Any luck?”, she asked.

Rio didn’t look up from the screen. “We’re almost in.”

Raquel nodded. “Let me know when you have something.”

Rio was trying to hack into the Spanish police database system. Despite Ángel’s report that Sergio wasn’t in custody, Raquel hadn’t wanted to rule out the possibility that he had been arrested after all. If the police had him they might still keep quiet about it in order to not agitate the public any further. Hacking in the system was dangerous, but they needed to know for sure.

“Lisboa”, called Tokyo, coming out of the living room. “Helsinki and I are going to take a look at the ship. Check if the storm has damaged anything.”

“Good idea.”

Hopefully the ship wasn’t broken. They didn’t have the time to fix anything major or get a new one.

As the two of them left for the beach, Raquel poured herself a glass of water and went into the living room where Denver and Mónica greeted her with warm smiles.

“Did you get any further last night?”, asked Mónica.

Raquel sighed and sat down at the desk. “Not really. There aren’t many possibilities where Sergio could be that I know of. Both the ambulance and the trailer have been discovered and confiscated by the police.”

“And the back-up van?”, asked Denver.

Raquel shook her head.

“Ángel found the back-up van, god knows where, so that’s not safe any more. If he hasn’t been arrested, he wouldn’t dare to go back there. Other than that … basically every place in Spain is hot lava right now.”

Both of them stayed silent.

“I have developed a few plans including possible next steps and approaches. I’ll explain when everybody’s gathered here.”

In that moment, Rio came into the kitchen. “We’re in.”

Raquel put down the glass of water. “And?”

“Nothing. They don’t have him. They think he has fled with the rest of us.”

Raquel breathed out. There was relief in the first instant. He hasn’t been arrested then, they weren’t torturing him.

“That’s good, right?”, asked Denver.

Raquel grabbed a pencil from the desk. “Depends. If he is not in custody, something else has kept him from meeting us at the port. Or someone.”

That just meant that he had gotten in trouble otherwise. Raquel lifted her hair, curled it into a knot and routinely secured it with the pencil. Where could Sergio be?

A sound interrupted her thoughts. Shouts. Coming from the beach. They looked at each other in shock. Tokyo and Helsinki. Had they been discovered? If so, the police would burst in here any second. Palermo came running into the living room, pistol in his hand.

“Come on”, he shouted.

The others followed his suit and made their way towards the door that led outside. Raquel jumped up too but she was barely able to follow the others. Her leg made every step excruciatingly painful. She didn’t have a weapon at hand either. But the others were already outside now. She needed to know what was going on.

There was a boat at the beach. Not a police boat, that was for sure. It was a small and simple boat, a bit worn down. The others had already reached Tokyo and Helsinki but as Raquel stumbled through the sand she couldn’t recognize what was going on. Then their bodies shifted and revealed something else. There was a person, a small and flimsy person, barely recognizable, clinging to Helsinki and drifting slowly to the ground. Raquel stopped in her tracks.

Sergio.

He looked miserable. Wet from the storm and full of sand. There was dirt on his clothes. But the worst was seeing his expression. Raquel had never seen his features as contorted as this. His eyes were red and swollen and his mouth was raised open in a silent scream as his knees met the ground and his body seemed to slump down. He kept on whispering something in a loop.

“I lost her. I lost her. I am sorry, I’m so sorry. I lost her.”

His voice was hoarse and barely audible. He didn’t even seem to notice Helsinki holding him. Raquel’s heart ached. Every fibre of her body gravitated towards him, longing to hold him, to comfort him, to make him see that everything was going to be okay.

“Sergio”, she whispered but he didn’t hear. The others, noticing her presence, opened the way up for her, as she stumbled forward until she could almost touch him.

„Sergio”, she sobbed, kneeling in front of him with difficulty.

He was so consumed by grief that he didn’t even look up.

“I’m so sorry.” Heavy drops of tears were falling on the sand, mixing with the salty waves that were washing up on shore.

“Sergio”, she said again, this time lifting his head with both her hands. “Look at me.” Her voice was shaking uncontrollably.

Two tiny and swollen, red eyes tried to focus on what was in front of them. They widened in shock.

“Raquel?”

An uncontrolled sound escaped her as she nodded. “It’s me, cariño, I’m alive.”

“How?”, was the only broken response he could manage.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m here.”

He didn’t seem to believe her at first, his expression incredulous and rigid, but Raquel simply embraced him until she felt something change in his posture and he clung to her body as if his life depended on it.

They both burst into tears of joy and stayed right there on the ground, holding each other, not wanting to let go because embracing each other was the only proof they had that both of them were indeed alive, and together.

They stayed like that for several minutes, crying silently and whispering “I’m here” as a reassurance to the other, absorbing the presence of their opposite, when finally, more hands unfolded around them. They were all together now.

They sat on the large couch in the living room. He was alright. Helsinki and Marseille had carried Sergio to the house and Raquel had helped him to clean up and change, while constantly reassuring him that it was indeed her and that she was truly alive. His eyes had relentlessly scanned her face as if he was looking for a sign that all of this was a lie, a petty scheme.

He was starved and tired but thankfully not wounded. He would be fine.

Now that they were seated around the living room table, everyone looked expectantly to Sergio.

“I am so sorry I let you down”, he started. “I haven’t been myself in the past days.”

“What happened?” asked Tokyo.

Sergio cleared his throat and looked at Raquel. She pressed his hand in reassurance as he started to speak.

“After they made me think that they had executed Lisboa, I blew a fuse. I couldn’t think straight and … I declared war.” Suddenly his voice seemed to break and he shook his head in disbelieve. “I ordered you to kill all these people.”

“We had to defend ourselves”, objected Denver.

“Yeah”, Bogotá joined in. “It was either them or us.”

“I know, I know. You are probably right. But just knowing that I am capable of that, it …

“You did what you had to do”, said Palermo curtly. “We knew this wouldn’t be a trip to the zoo. It’s done now.”

Nobody replied. Raquel herself couldn’t thrust aside the guilt of being responsible for several deaths. But for the moment, he was right. It was irreversible.

Sergio took a deep breath and looked at Raquel. “I thought I had lost you.”

“But they showed me on television after your speech”, Raquel objected.

“I know. I watched. And I realized how stupid I had been to simply believe you were dead without any actual proof. I abandoned everything and made my way towards Madrid. The only thing I knew was that I had to get you out of there.”

“What did you plan on doing?”

Sergio shook his head. “I don’t know, I had no idea. I simply knew I couldn’t just sit there and wait, I had to do something. But I was too late. When I arrived you were already in that bank and I had no idea what was happening. Until I managed to hack into their communication system and overheard Suárez report to Sierra that you had died in the explosions.”

Raquel covered her face with her hands. Of course.

“He lied”, she explained. “Alicia didn’t want to see me leave that bank alive. I guess he held his own grudge against her and decided catching us wasn’t worth following her psycho-plans. He was the one who ordered to abort the operation.”

“That explains a lot”, Sergio said faintly.

Raquel looked at him questioningly.

“I wasn’t simply going to believe what I heard. Not this time. I had to make sure. But when I hacked into the police data base system everything was documented in order. That your death in the cabin had been faked, that you had been sent into the bank and died in the explosions.” He swallowed. “That any possible remaining parts of your body were yet to be recovered.”

“Why didn’t you get in touch with us? What about the back-up van?”, asked Palermo.

“I left it and everything in it in the countryside. It was too suspicious, I organized a smaller car to get to Madrid. By the time I thought I had verified Lisboa’s death hours had passed. You must have already been gone.”

Raquel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The lie that had been supposed to help her had caused even more damage.

“Sergio …”, she hesitated asking because she thought she knew what the answer would be. “What took you so long to get here after all?”

He looked at her with pain in his face. “Raquel… you have to understand… I thought they had killed you. I… I wasn’t myself. My thoughts… all I could think about was taking revenge.”

“Sergio, what did you do?” Raquel’s heart started to beat faster.

“Nothing, nothing, I swear”, he assured her. “I wanted to avenge you, I wanted to kill them all, trust me. But… as I read the police report again I learned that they had Paula and Mariví. That’s what made me come to my senses again. The only reason I came here after all was to call my carrier and get the both of them out of there.”

Raquel let out all the air that she had forgotten to let go in the past seconds and embraced him tightly. He hadn’t gone on a rampage. He had wanted to save Paula and Mariví. Thank god!

“I am sorry I abandoned all of you. I could have screwed up everything”, he said, a remorseful look emerging from behind his glasses.

“You’re here now”, said Tokyo. “That’s what matters.”

After they had told him everything that happened, they decided to finally get out of Morocco, far, far away from Spain. While waiting for their carriers, Raquel and Sergio made their way towards the beach and sat down in the shelter of a collections of rocks. This was the first time they were alone together again.

“I am so relieved you’re here”, whispered Raquel as she moved closer to him so their foreheads could touch. Her hand went up to his cheeks and she suddenly felt a longing for him, more than just the simple reassurance of knowing he was here.

“I am so relieved you’re alive”, he whispered back to her, barely audible.

Her hand found its way to his neck and she gently pulled him towards her in order for their lips to reunite. They started kissing, at first slow and cautious, then with more passion and an internal burning for each other.

Raquel’s chest filled with that familiar joy that she felt every time when she was with Sergio. It seemed like years had passed since they had last touched and kissed each other and that their bodies had intertwined. Knowing it had only been a few days was surreal.

The longing in her chest finally overtook her. Her hands went from his neck to his hair, gently gripping the familiar texture when suddenly she stopped. Her cheeks were wet. She hesitated for a second and reluctantly moved her face away from his. He was crying.

"Cariño, what's the matter?"

"Raquel...", he just managed to get out. "I'm an idiot."

"What's going on?"

"How could I? How could I talk to you as if you were inferior to me, back in the woods? As if you were not in any way essential for this heist? As if you were a distraction?"

So that was what this was about. Raquel took his hands in both of hers but he moved back a bit.

"You were stressed. We both were. Why are you beating yourself up about this?"

"I am an idiot for even thinking for one second, one second, that I beat you."

Raquel didn't say anything. He needed to get this out although she didn’t need to hear it. She knew him. She knew how he felt.

"I couldn’t possibly beat you. You’re the most intelligent and courageous person I know. How could I talk down to you like an egoistic ..." he was ringing for words "...asshole."

"Stop it", Raquel quietly objected.

"No, it's true", he insisted. "I don't want to be this person any more. The professor. That sad and angry soul, wanting to take revenge for his father, for his brother and then... wanting to avenge you... Raquel, if you could have seen me, the monster I became when I thought they had taken you from me...” He shook his head in horror of the memories that flooded his inner eye. “I do not ever want to be that person again.”

"You don't have to", she pressed his hands and looked him in the eyes, trying to pull him back to reality. "Because I'm here. We're together, okay?"

He slowly started to realize that that was true. "I don't want to waste my time hating the world when I could spend it with you", he quietly concluded.

"Then don't", Raquel said. "It's over now. We have all the time in the world."

“I love you”, he finally said. She had heard it before when she was hiding in a wooden crate and being suspiciously eyed by a chicken, fearing for both their lives. Hearing it now once again made her heart jump of joy.

“I love you too.”

His tense features finally started to recover and Raquel realized that his body seemed to relax as he moved closer to her again, seeking her touch and warmth.

They sat there for a while, watching the ocean.

"Marry me", he suddenly blurted out.

Raquel looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

He tried to gather himself.

"I... I know you said in the camper you expected a proper proposal, but... I just needed to get it out. Being with you for the rest of my life is all I wish for at the moment and I couldn't wait another second to ask you."

Raquel smirked. "Alright", she simply said.

"Is that your 'yes'?", he asked, his eyes opened wide. "No, I want a proper 'yes'."

Raquel laughed out loud, a blissful laughter. "You didn't even fall down to your knees, mister", she countered playfully.

He didn't hesitate. "Alright, have it your way", he said but he couldn't hide the smile that was forming on his lips. He kneeled in front of her as much as the sandy ground would allow him to without slipping away.

"Raquel", he started and she giggled at the silliness of this moment but he kept a straight face. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course, you idiot", she whispered.

Before he knew it she had thrown herself onto him and they were both rolling around in the sand, deeply kissing and being completely unaware of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue will follow in the next days or so :)


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read this fic, gave Kudos and commented all these lovely things. Thanks for sticking with me although it always took me so long to update. I had so much fun writing this story and I hope you're happy with this little epilogue :) 
> 
> xxx

_One year later, Peru. _

“And remember when we had to cut that disgusting pig open to practice removing microphones?”, Tokyo said as she helped herself to a second slice of cake.

The table vibrated from laughter all around. Denver’s characteristic laugh stood out in particular.

“I just wish we would have eaten it afterwards”, he said and everyone chuckled.

Raquel watched the scene happily. Everyone had come and it felt like being with life-long friends. With what they had gone through together they probably were friends for life. You don’t just thrust aside experiences like these.

“Mamá, look what Cinci and I got you”, Paula exclaimed, still panting from running so fast. Behind her, little Cincinnati staggered towards them, carefully holding a small bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“Ohh”, made everyone at the table in unison as he handed the flowers to Raquel and she whispered a warm ‘thank you’.

“What a gentleman”, said Mariví who had been quietly observing the scene for the past few minutes. Raquel looked at her with bliss in her eyes. Today had been one of her good days.

It had been a year since they had taken over the bank of Spain. Since then a lot had happened. Because the police had found out about their house in Palawan they had been forced to move countries. Still they had managed to find a nice place at the coast, a paradise, similar to what they had in the Philippines. Raquel was glad that Paula had adjusted to the situation so easily. She couldn’t yet grasp the extent of what her mother was entangled in but she understood that there were more complicated circumstances that weren’t up to them. As it turned out Paula hadn’t been in actual danger when Sierra had tried to use her as bait in exchange for the plan but Sergio and Raquel made sure that they showered her with love and attention so she wouldn’t ever retain psychological bruises from what happened. As for Mariví… there were bad days and there were good days, the latter of which arose fewer and fewer but Raquel told herself to treasure each and every happy moment. For now, everything was alright.

Raquel observed the animated conversation at the table when a warm hand placed itself on her arm.

“What are you thinking about?”, Sergio whispered into her ear.

“About how nice this is, all of us together”, she replied.

He made a content sound and gently kissed her neck. She could smell his perfume.

“And about how sexy you look today”, she continued with a smirk on her lips.

He chuckled and his fingers intertwined with hers.

“I would like to return that compliment.” He moved closer. “But do you know what I like most about that white dress you’re wearing, as beautiful as it is?”, he asked.

“What?”

She could feel the faint breath of his reply in her ear. “That later tonight, it will be laying on the floor.”

In a quick movement Raquel grabbed him by his tie and gave him a long kiss on his lips. They were interrupted by roaring laughter.

“… and his PIN number was 1-2-3-4”, Denver laughed.

“Oh, Arturito, that little bastard”, Helsinki chuckled. “I most certainly had my fun teasing him.”

“Hostage of the decade”, declaimed Rio, raising his glass.

Mónica shook her head but even she couldn’t suppress a smirk.

“Alright”, Palermo said with a loud voice and got the round to quiet down. “I want to pronounce a toast.”

He got up, a glass of champagne in his hand, turning towards Sergio and Raquel.

“I never would have thought this day would come. Little Sergio getting married.”

Raquel thought she could see Sergio’s cheeks turn red under his beard. Everyone else chuckled at the thought of the professor being ‘little Sergio’.

“To me, you started off as Andrés’ nerdy brother. Highly intelligent, detail-oriented and fixated on a plan, your life goal of taking over the mint and printing your own money to avenge your father. There was no place in your life for a relationship. So to me, it’s ironic that it was during the days in which this plan enfolded that you encountered the only person who was able to keep up with you and managed to completely mess with that clever mind of yours. Your ideal counterpart.”

“A cop”, Tokyo stated with a fake cough and Rio managed to imitate a very realistic drum sound effect as a response to that punchline. Everyone burst out in laughter again and the two of them gave each other a high five. Even Palermo chuckled and Raquel saw him exchange a lingering look with Helsinki.

“Yes, your feelings for her almost ruined everything but instead – and to your luck, might I say – she saw in you the caring and gentle soul that you are. And, as a substitute for Andrés, who I know would have enjoyed to be here with you today, I might have to thank her for that my entire life.”

Raquel raised her glass in appreciation. She could see a sad smile form on Sergio’s face. He would have loved for his brother to be part of this event. She pressed his hand in affirmation and he responded with the usual warmth that spread on his face when he saw her.

Palermo raised his glass. “Here’s to the two of you. To Sergio and Raquel.”

“To Sergio and Raquel”, everyone joined in, and for a second, Raquel was taken aback by the fact that everyone was using their real names. Then again, maybe it was time to file away their criminal code names for good. They didn’t plan on putting on a heist ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave Kudos and let me know what you think, I always love reading your comments! :)


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